Hopes and Dreams
by TouchofPixieDust
Summary: Kagome jumps into the Bone Eater's Well to go to the feudal era. She is confused when she hits bottom and looks up to see a very human Inuyasha... With one foot in two different worlds, will Kagome be torn apart, or just lose her sanity?
1. Down the Well

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter One: Down the Well

Sitting on the edge of the Bone Eaters well, Kagome Higurashi looked down and sighed. She couldn't wait to get back to the feudal age. Even with all the demons and fighting, it was much more peaceful there. Maybe not 'peaceful' exactly. But it gave her the sense that she was home. Then again, maybe it wasn't the time or the place that she was homesick for. Maybe it was the irritable hanyou on the other side of the well. She just hoped that Inuyasha wouldn't be too mad. If nothing else, he'd be happy to see all the extra ramen she packed.

Taking a breath, she pushed herself off the edge and plunged into the darkness. She waited for the blue light to envelope her and take her to past.

"Oof!" She landed badly, twisting her ankle and falling hard into the hard packed earth.

The ground was solid. It didn't open up and let her through. At first she was confused. No. At first she was in shock. Confusion came after. _Why didn't it work? Why isn't it working?_ Nimbly her finger went to her pocket where she was keeping the glass vial of jewel shards until she got her necklace fixed. But they weren't there. Had Inuyasha stolen the shards again to keep her trapped in her time? _Why?_

She let the tears form and slide down her face as her fingers clawed at the packed earth until her fingers were raw and her nails torn and bleeding. Sniffling she scooted to the stone wall of the well and leaned against it. _What am I going to do?_

"Are you down that stupid well again?"

For a moment the girl was bewildered. It was his voice, but the well hadn't opened up and let her through. Slowly her mind began to clear and pushed the confusion away, and Kagome looked up until she saw the familiar silhouette of Inuyasha looking down at her.

"Um…..no?" She called back up with a smile in her far too innocent sounding voice.

She giggled as she listened to her best friend curse up a storm that would make even the golden eyed half demon from her dreams blush. Wiping the tears from her eyes she struggled to her feet and leaned against the wall, favoring her injured ankle. It was throbbing and hurt like the dickens, but she wouldn't let HIM know that. He would never let her live it down.

Evidently the human Inuyasha had hearing just as good as her hanyou, since he stopped cursing when he heard her sharp intake of breath when she stood.

"You didn't hurt yourself again did you, Kag?"

"It's Ka-GO-ME, not Kag."

"You're evading the question, KAG. Which means you DID hurt yourself and you know you are gonna get chewed out. You know, you'll never be an actress… or a politician." He sounded seriously miffed. "You shouldn't even bother to try lying. It is just painfully pathetic."

Kagome huffed, "Harrumph. You think you know me soooo well."

With a soft thump her friend landed in front of her, with catlike grace. _Catlike_, she snickered at her own joke. Her dog demon wouldn't like being compared to a cat.

"I do know you, moron. We've been friends since we were in the womb."

Inuyasha's mom and Kagome's mom had been best friends growing up. They married within a year of each other, lived next door to each other, and had their first children less than a month apart. It was an old family joke that Inuyasha and Kagome were friends while in the womb. Considering how close she had always felt to the boy, Kagome didn't doubt that for a single moment.

"What is it with you and ties?" she asked as she touched the loosely knotted tie of his more than slightly rumpled school uniform. It reminded her so much of the rosary when he wore it like this.

Of course, the extreme casualness of the tie went well with the rolled up sleeves and top two unbuttoned buttons. He never was one to care about the dress code. She supposed it was all she could ask for that he actually wore the uniform, albeit in his own unique fashion. She gave it a quick sniff. Well, at least it was clean.

"You know I can't tie these stupid things." He took the tie from her fingers. She looked carefully at the knot. Sure enough, it was the same knot she had tied for him yesterday. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Inuyasha didn't scoop Kagome up in his arms and jump with her out of the well to safety like he often did in her dreams, but he did help pull and push her along on the way up, making sure she had a good grip on the rope ladder he had made for her two years ago when she had first started jumping down the well.

That was shortly after the dreams had begun on her fifteenth birthday.

"You know you are insane, don't you?" Inuyasha asked as he gave his friend a final push out of the well before climbing out himself.

Kagome stood up and dusted herself off, her own uniform now more than slightly rumpled as well. "Yeah, I know. But it seems so real. I just can't help myself!"

"Hmph. I finally know what to study in college. Psychology. Then maybe I can finally figure out what in the world wrong with that stupid brain of yours." With his fist he gently knocked on her head as if listening for the echo that would confirm that she actually did have a brain in there. "You've had these dreams for too long." His voice was stern and his eyes serious.

"Oh! Another dream, Kagome?" Inuyasha and Kagome turned to see their friend Miroku Houshi walked into the well house. His uniform, as usual, was perfectly starched and pressed with an impeccably tied tie around his neck. "Am I still a lecherous monk?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You're ALWAYS lecherous, Miroku. And yes, you are still a monk in the dream."

"Did you ever heal that wind in the hand problem of mine?"

"Wind Tunnel. Stop calling it 'wind in the hand'… that just sounds gross. And I don't control the dreams, you know."

"Are you ever going to hook Sango and me up in the dream? If I'm supposed to be a lecherous monk, can't you let me do anything that is actually lecherous."

"I. DO. NOT. CONTROL. THE. DREAMS."

"You forgot to call him an idiot", Inuyasha reminded Kagome helpfully.

A new voice joined them. "At least you and Sango are adults in her dreams, she turns ME into a little KID!" Kagome laughed as a disgruntled Shippo peeked inside the well house. He hated the fact that he was always a small child in the dreams.

"She didn't jump in again did she?" the red head asked as he took in Kagome's rather untidy appearance.

"Of course she did. She's stupid you know," Inuyasha answered, which earned him a punch in the shoulder.

"Did you find more jewel shards last night?" Shippo asked.

Kagome grinned, "Yes! We found it in the head of a bear demon!"

"Don't encourage her, Shippo!" Inuyasha bounced his book bag off the shorter teen's head as he started shoving the males out of the well house. "She's already dancing on the edge of insanity, she doesn't need a push."

Kagome sniffed loudly and turned her nose up in the air. "I guess you don't want to know how it ends then." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She knew that he was just a big of a sucker for hearing about the dreams as the others. Though she had a feeling he was trying to analyze them and make sense of them. He was likely very serious about wanting to study psychology in college.

With a snort Inuyasha turned his back to her. "Hop on. Let's get you off that foot and go get it looked at. Idiot."

"I'm beginning to think that 'Idiot' is your pet name for me," she grumbled. But she was never one to refuse a piggy back ride, in her dreams or in reality, so she tossed Miroku her yellow book bag and hopped on.

Kagome wrapped her arms around her friend's neck and he gripped her legs. "Grab my bag too, Miroku," he said as he walked out of the well house with his cargo.

Miroku whined loudly. "How come I have to carry the bags? I could carry Kagome and YOU could carry the bags."

"Well… sure," Inuyasha laughed, "You could… if you ever learned to keep your hands to yourself. I don't feel like carrying her AND dragging your unconscious body along after she beats you within an inch of your life."

During the walk to school, Shippo coaxed the story out of Kagome about how they defeated the bear demon to get another shard. He made the appropriate grossed out faces when she got to the blood and gore parts. She always made sure to go into detail about those. It never failed to make Shippo turn an interesting color of green.

"At least Kikyo wasn't in this dream. You're always in such a bad mood when she is. Worse than when PMS-ing."

Kagome tensed. Kikyo. The girl from her dream determined to take Inuyasha away from her. The one that he loved. The one he continued to leave her for. In reality, Kikyo was Kagome's cousin. Their mothers were twin sisters. When they had daughters who looked so much alike and were so close to the same age, they thought it would be great fun to treat them as twins. They would dress them in identical outfits and attempt to force them to bond like sisters. Their moms were incredibly optimistic.

"You're choking me, Kag." Inuyasha pried her fingers from his throat. He gave Shippo an evil glare for bringing up the name 'Kikyo'.

He also hated it when she would have Kikyo in her dream. He couldn't count the times he found Kagome crying and depressed for days because of her. He knew that her heart ached. She couldn't hide the sorrow from her eyes, no matter how brightly she smiled to try and hide the pain. Inuyasha sighed. He had gone out on a couple of dates with Kikyo a year and a half ago. There was no horrible breakup. It just didn't work out. His heart wasn't in it. Shortly after, Kikyo had started making her appearances in Kagome's dreams, making Kagome's life as miserable in her dreams as she did in real life.

Strangely enough, she didn't seem to hate either Kikyo.

Kikyo wasn't an evil person, she just had a cool and aloof personality. She was also a very beautiful young woman. Her long black hair fell well past her hips in a silky curtain, and her body was trim and fit thanks to her athletic pursuits. She was even the captain of the archery club. But Kikyo was no stereotypical jock. She was also very bright and was vice president of the student council. No one doubted that she would be valedictorian. If there was an award, she was the one receiving it. Everything she did she excelled at with grace and panache.

And not a day went by without someone reminding Kagome of how poorly she measured up to her perfect cousin. It would be easier to hate her if she was cruel, but she wasn't. So instead of hate, Kagome just felt hurt and envy.

Inuyasha wanted to pound a knot on Shippo's head for bringing up such a sore subject. He was about to shift Kagome around so he could free up a fist, but she beat him to it.

WHACK

WHACK

WHACK

"PMS-ing?"

Before Kagome could persuade Inuyasha to chase down their bolting friend so she could whack him some more, they found themselves in front of their school building. Shippo and Miroku walked with them to the nurse's office, though Shippo kept out of Kagome's swinging range.

"You guys run on to class. I'll be there in a few minutes." Kagome smiled and waved off her friends.

"I think I'll stick around."

"You don't have to, Inuyasha."

"Keh."

Kagome giggled. There were times that she could forget that he wasn't the dog demon she dreamed about. But this Inuyasha was much better than the one from her dreams.

This one was real.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Note:

I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I have the next few chapters sketched out, so hopefully it won't be too long before updates. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but stick it out until at least chapter three before you decide if you like it or not, even if you aren't an AU fan.

Thanks to Shoomy2003 for looking the chapter over for me and catching those grammatical errors.


	2. Inuyasha vs the Green Eyed Demon

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Two: Inuyasha vs. The Green Eyed Demon

"Be careful!" Inuyasha hissed at Kaede, the nurse who was wrapping a bandage around Kagome's ankle.

The young man tried to glare at Kagome for getting into this mess again, but couldn't manage to keep the frown in place with her making faces at him over the nurse's head. It was unfair how much power she had over him. When Kaede caught her making a particularly embarrassing face, Kagome turned a most interesting shade of pink and Inuyasha chuckled.

He knew that he was perhaps a wee bit overprotective of his friend, but he figured everyone would just have to live with it. He wasn't changing for anyone. He loved his friend more than anything and would turn the world, not to mention everyone in it, inside out for her.

Yes. Love.

Maybe it wasn't the roses and candlelight romantic gushy love that is in all the romance novels that Kagome read but tried to hide from him. Maybe it wasn't the fairytale love of knights and princesses, or demons and mikos for that matter, but it was love all the same.

And as far as Inuyasha was concerned, Kagome was HIS Kagome. She has always been his constant companion and best friend. Why the heck she chose to be his best friend was beyond him. However, he wasn't going to jinx things by questioning it or trying to analyze it to death.

Inuyasha quit pacing and finally sat in the hard plastic seat where he could watch the excruciatingly and painfully slow process as Kaede un-wrapping the ankle and re-wrapping it a little tighter. Kagome was grinning at him as he scowled at the nurse, which made it difficult to keep up the glaring. _How can she possibly look like she's having a good time?_

She made another goofy face at him while the nurse turned.

"You have the choice, Miss Higurashi. You can behave and take this orally," Kaede shook the thermometer and gave the girl a hard look. "Or…"

"Eep!"

Inuyasha snickered as she opened up and held the thermometer in her mouth and sat very very still. She crossed her eyes trying to read the numbers, making him look away before he broke out laughing.

"Why are YOU here?" asked Kaede as she held Kagome's wrist to take her pulse.

"Pack mule."

Kaede grunted her reply.

"Mmph murff?" Kagome mumbled.

It was in kindergarten that he knew that he loved her. Sure they had always been friends, but that was only because they only had each other to play with. Once kindergarten started there were lots of other kids to choose a best friend from… and she chose him. Every single time they had to choose a partner she chose him. When it was time to choose teams he was always the first that she picked, even the games he was bad at. She always always always picked him first.

They were inseparable.

Then came the fourth grade. Her father got a new job and took her away from him.

They wrote each other every day, either snail mail, email, or on messenger, but it wasn't quite the same. He had missed her smile and her laugh. He missed her. His life was one big empty hole without her.

A couple of years later she came back. Her father had died in a car accident on his way home from work one day, and the devastated family went to live at the old Higurashi shrine with Kagome's grandfather. Though Inuyasha was sad for her loss, he couldn't help but be happy to have his best friend back. It was lonely without her. A part of him was missing with her gone. He hadn't even tried to make new friends while she was away, and no one sought him out as a friend.

Inuyasha smiled at his memory of seeing Kagome again. He had been shocked! She had blossomed. Though she had been cute before, she was drop dead gorgeous when she returned. He remembered how afraid he was when he saw her. Afraid that she might not want him anymore. Afraid that people would try to take her away from him again. People like (shudder) boys. And the boys were drawn to her like moths to a flame. It was practically a full time job keeping them at bay. But she never gave any of the more than a passing glance. Ever.

And he had been too scared of losing her to even attempt dating her. So he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Kikyo.

Dating Kikyo had taught Inuyasha that it was more than a love for a childhood friend he felt for Kagome. Being with Kikyo just brought to light every wonderful thing about his best friend. No other girl could replace her, and soon Inuyasha just gave up trying. When Kagome would pester him about his lack of love life he would just use studying for college as an excuse.

"Crutches?" Kagome sounded absolutely horrified. Inuyasha looked up from his musings at the sound.

"I could always just carry you around everywhere," he offered with a chuckle.

He laughed out loud when it looked like she was seriously considering his offer. In the end she decided to get around on her own steam. He settled for carrying her books while she hobbled along on the borrowed wooden crutches.

"Thanks," Kagome said shyly as they reached their classroom door.

Inuyasha gave her a friendly faux punch on the shoulder. Although in his head he was willing to admit he was madly in love with his best friend, to the rest of the world he was maintaining the buddy façade. He couldn't risk scaring her off. If anyone took teasing worse than him, it was Kagome. "Anytime, kiddo."

"Grrrrrr," she growled. "I'm not a kid! Besides, you're only a few weeks older than me, so you can't say anything."

"But I'm still older."

"A few lousy weeks!"

"Still ooooldeeerr."

After settling down into their seats, Inuyasha pulled out his notebook and his pen. He stole a glance at the girl in the seat beside him. Kagome shoved her crutches under her seat (after accidentally whacking Miroku and Kouga with them) and reached into her bag for her notebook. She whispered to Sango, who sat in front of her, asking to borrow the notes from what they missed. Inuyasha knew that the girls would get together at lunch to swap the notes, and gossip, that they missed by being late.

Ten minutes later Kagome's purple pen was wandering aimlessly over her paper and her eyes had gone all soft and dreamy. Inuyasha frowned. He knew what she was daydreaming about. Or who. It was Inuyasha. The dog-demon from her dreams, not the Inuyasha sitting beside her. The Inuyasha who had been her best friend for their entire lives. The Inuyasha who was always beside her.

The one who loved her.

In the beginning Inuyasha had felt flattered that the character who was modeled and named after him was the hero of her dreams. He had been proud to be the hero, and romantic interest, in her dreams. But then the dreams continued. They were more detailed, more involved. More real. It didn't take long before he was a little more than afraid that she had fallen head over heels for a figment of her imagination.

He was actually jealous over a dream!

He had fought this particular green eyed demon every time she got that dreamy "I wish I was with my big strong testosteroney hanyou in feudal Japan" look in her eyes. Even though he knew he was being unreasonable, he still wished he could challenge the hanyou. To fight him for her.

What was worse was than the dreams was the fact that the dreams never let her be completely happy. They never let her be completely happy with him. There was always someone or something that would get in their way. Half of him hated the hanyou for being the one that Kagome loved so much, and the other half hated him for never loving her back.

"Maybe I'm the one who needs a shrink," Inuyasha mumbled to himself.

How does someone compete against a dream anyhow? He wasn't a demon, or even a half demon. He didn't have the super strength or super hearing or super smell or super anything at all. He was just your average every day guy… and not a particularly wonderful one at that. He was absolutely pathetically slightly below average.

Inuyasha ran over his list of faults. Short temper, mediocre grades, anti-social, unpopular, no job, no money, no car…. Inuyasha decided to quit going over his list of faults before he got tooooo depressed. He looked back over at Kagome. _She deserves someone as special as she is._ But so far he hadn't found a single boy worthy of being with his friend. He had no shame in running them off. Of course, he wasn't sure what he would do when the day came that Kagome finally chose a boyfriend. Much less a husband. He shuddered at the thought.

No, if it came down to her becoming serious enough about a boy for her to consider marriage he would have to step in. Of course, that didn't seem to be an issue since there was only one male that she seemed interested in, and he was just a dream. That thought should have made him feel better, but it didn't.

Before he could look away, Kagome turned her head and looked at him. She smiled the smile that always made him feel like his brain was turning into tapioca.

Quickly he scribbled out a note: _WacDonalds?_ Then he handed it to her once the teacher's attention was on the papers in front of her. Kagome took the note and hid it under her notes. When she covertly peeked at what he wrote she gave him another of her heart stopping smiles and nodded.

Inuyasha ducked his head to hide his grin. They had a date at WacDonalds after school. Concentrating on the lecture was next to impossible. He'd copy the notes that Kagome was going to copy from Sango at lunch. He had something that the hanyou didn't have after all. He had Kagome.

And he was real.


	3. Dreams

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Three: Dream?

"Where have you been, wench?" Inuyasha snarled grouchily as he pulled her out of the well by her backpack.

Kagome grinned at him as he lowered her to the ground and tried to keep her fingers from rubbing his cute little doggie ears. They were always such a temptation, especially when they twitched like that. She felt that she must have the greatest self-control of anyone in the whole world, and in two time periods, to not pet those ears every time she saw them.

"I overslept."

"Keh, you always oversleep. Those shards won't find themselves you know." Inuyasha turned his back to her. "Hop on. Let's get going. Wench."

Kagome froze.

This was familiar.

Why was this so familiar? Her blood felt like it suddenly turned to ice as she recognized where the feeling came from. It was like in her dream, the one where Inuyasha was a regular boy who went to her school. They all did. Even Shippo.

It was such a realistic dream though. She closed her eyes as the images from the dream threatened to overwhelm her.

"Kagome?"

Maybe this was the dream. After all, she remembered her childhood with human Inuyasha. She remembered playing Hide and Seek in the park. She remembered going camping with him and his family every summer. She remembered their first day in Kindergarten. She remembered cutting her hair when he pretended he thought she was Kikyo and how horrified and apologetic he was after she did it.

Worried golden eyes appeared before her. His nose was almost touching her nose. She could feel strands of his hair against her face. She could feel the heat of his body and could almost hear the beat of his heart. But was this real?

"Are you real?"

"What?"

"Is this real, Inuyasha?"

"Don't be stupid, of course it is." He sounded offended. "What is wrong with you?"

Kagome was close to tears as she wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself tightly. "How do I know? How do I know it's real?" She looked up at him with watery eyes. "In my dreams you're a regular boy who goes to my school, my best friend since we were babies. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo are there too. Kaede is the school nurse! It's so real!"

What if the man before her wasn't really a man at all? What if he was just a dream? After all, how could there be such a thing as demons and magic? How could SHE possibly be a miko? How could any of this possibly be real?

The tears escaped, slowly turning into heart wrenching sobs. Startled by the hysteria, Inuyasha wasn't sure what he should do. Her breakdown was so unexpected. Dumbfounded he watched her cry for a moment, then he carefully pulled her into his arms and held her, patting her head awkwardly. He kept his mouth shut, figuring that was probably the best, but he tried to make comforting sounds.

"Am I going crazy?" she asked through the tears.

"Let's talk to Kaede about the dreams," he said as he finally pulled away. "Hop on."

The trip was short considering the speed Inuyasha was traveling. It was the speed he usually reserved for when he was racing an injured Kagome to safety. She could tell that he was worried. Quite frankly, she was rather worried herself. The dream was far too real for her comfort.

She hugged the hanyou tightly. Surely he was real. Wasn't he?

As clear as day she remembered finding him pinned to the God Tree by Kikyo's arrow. She remembered every battle they fought in together, every little scratch Inuyasha received. She remembered the long days traveling over dusty roads as they searched for the jewel shards. She remembered every time she held his hand in hers and every time he held her to comfort her. She could even still feel the kiss they shared at Kaguya's castle. No, this Inuyasha had to be real. It was her companion that she went to school with who was the dream.

It just seemed so very real.

"Oi!" called Inuyasha as he stomped into the hut and set Kagome on her feet. "Old hag, where are you?"

"You could stand to be a bit more polite," grumbled the young miko.

"KAEDE!"

Kagome rolled her eyes at the temperamental hanyou and went to put her bag in the corner to wait for the other miko's return.

"KAGOME!" She was almost knocked to the ground by the little furry cannonball. "I missed you! Did you bring me pocky?"

"Oi, brat, where's the old woman?"

Shippo looked up from peeking in Kagome's yellow backpack. "I think she went down to the stream to get some water."

The kit looked shocked when Inuyasha gave him a quick pat on the head before tearing out of the hut. Shippo just blinked. Then he turned to Kagome.

"What's with him?"

Kagome shrugged, amused that in his haste to find Kaede that he actually patted Shippo affectionately. Of course, most of his displays of affection were on accident. "Guess he really wants to find Kaede." She dug through her bag and came up with a box of strawberry pocky. "Where are Sango and Miroku?"

"They are in a hut towards the edge of the village. Sango is tending to his wounds."

Kagome gasped. "Wounds? What happened?"

"Sango." He swallowed his mouthful of treats. "He was flirting with some girl and Sango may have whacked him a bit too hard. He lost his balance and fell and hit his head on a cart and knocked it over."

"Oh my."

Shippo snorted, "But that isn't the best part."

"There's a best part?"

"The cart was filled with manure for fertilizing the fields… and Miroku got buried in it!"

Kagome tried not to laugh. She pulled her knees under her chin and rested her head on them. There was no way she would make up a story like that. More proof that this was the real world. The thought made her feel better. What kind of person would she be if she had imagined such a horrible life for Inuyasha, including getting shot through the heart by someone who looked just like HER? And if it really was her dream, wouldn't it be less… messy? Half her time in the feudal era was spent cleaning demon guts out of her clothes and hair. Besides, if it was her dream, Inuyasha would have declared his undying love for her ages ago.

She sighed, a little sad that the other Inuyasha was just a dream. He was so very sweet to her. They had fun together. They were the best of friends. And… well… she might love him. It is a different kind of feeling than the one she had for the dog eared Inuyasha, but it was a feeling of love all the same.

"I am able to walk on my own," complained a voice from the doorway.

"Keh, you're too slow."

For a moment Kaede looked like she was going to respond to the hanyou, but then she took a good look at him. He was impatient, as usual, but also very concerned. And the only one who ever brought about THAT type of concern was a certain girl from the future. So instead she ignored the young man and turned her attention to the girl sitting with her back against the wall.

"Good afternoon, child."

"Hi, Kaede."

"You need to fix her, old woman. Tell her about the dreams!"

Kagome and Kaede scowled at the dog demon, both making similar comments about rude and impatient dog demons.

"Tell me of your dreams."

So she did. She told them about the well not working and looking up to see a human Inuyasha. Then she told them about a human Shippo. She went to school with Miroku and Sango as well as the two demons turned human. She also mentioned that in her dream that Kikyo was her cousin. But what she stressed was how very real the dream seemed. That when she was there, that this world seemed like it was the dream.

Shippo was interested in the dream, just like the human teenaged Shippo from her dream. Inuyasha looked angry. And worried.

"Dreams are mysterious things. I am sorry, child. I have no answers for you, but I will try to find out more information." She looked out the doorway. "Perhaps when Miroku is… feeling better… he will be able to be of some help."

Once Miroku recovered, he and Sango listened to the problem that Kagome was having with her dreams. Inuyasha seemed even angrier the second time the story was told. Unfortunately, Miroku also had little to say to put her mind at ease. In fact, he was a bit too interested in the lives of the dream Miroku and dream Sango for Kagome's peace of mind. He was worse than Shippo!

"Does Sango wear an outfit like yours?" he asked.

Inuyasha glared at him and Sango blushed.

"Yeah, all the girls do. Boys have to wear uniforms too." At Miroku's horrified look she explained further, "Though they wear pants, not skirts."

Inuyasha growled. "No one wants to hear any more about your stupid dreams." With that he bounded off to the trees. Kagome knew that her dreams were bothering him as much as they were bothering her.

No one mentioned the dreams in Inuyasha's presence that day when they started off on another journey. The next day, however, Miroku and Shippo were so curious that they had to find out more information, so they would hang back to whisper their questions to her. Even Sango would ask about the dreams. No matter how quiet they tried to be, Inuyasha could always hear them, and it always ended up with a lot of yelling. Soon he just kept Kagome at his side and glared at their companions whenever they tried to pull her into a conversation of any kind. Kagome would have scolded him for his behavior if she wasn't so tired of talking about the dream. It was really beginning to freak her out. She was beginning to question her sanity.

After a few days of hunting for shards, the group came across a rat demon with a shard. It wasn't a particularly tough demon, but he was quick and good at hiding. But he wasn't good enough to escape from Inuyasha. It was quickly disposed of and another shard was added to Kagome's growing collection.

"I'm hungry," Inuyasha announced as he wiped the rat demon's blood off of his sword. "I want Ramen."

"No surprise there," Kagome murmured, feeling a bit queasy even thinking about food after the giant rat was dismembered.

She dug in her bag and came up with only four cups of Ramen. Uh oh. With a sigh she pulled out her traveling kettle and went to find a stream for some water. Sango went with her to keep her company, and to protect her.

"The dreams are really bothering Inuyasha," commented the slayer as they reached the cool stream.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Sango gave her a smile. "I think he's jealous."

"Don't be silly," Kagome laughed. "Inuyasha? Jealous?"

With a full kettle, the two women walked back to where the others were clearing out an area for them to sit and eat. Kirara was in the middle of blowing a fire into the makeshift fire pit when they arrived.

Kagome started some water boiling then filled each cup. When they were finished she gave one to Shippo, one to Miroku, one to Sango, and one to Inuyasha.

"Where's yours?" Inuyasha asked between mouthfuls of noodles.

"That was the last of it," she explained as she continued to rummage through her bag. Luckily she found some granola bars and trail mix. Not the most nutritious dinner for a growing girl… but then again… neither was Ramen. "I guess I'll have to go back for some more."

There was grumbling and fighting about her going back to the future, there always was. But with Ramen at stake, Inuyasha let her have her way. She didn't even have to say "Sit" once.

The next morning he walked with her to the well. She set her bag on the edge and looked down. Suddenly she was nervous about going back.

"Do you want to come with me?" she asked as she leaned up against the well, unwilling to look down it.

"Why would I want to do that?" His cheeks were red and he quickly turned his face.

"Mama might fix you a special dinner."

"Keh."

"Souta will want to play video games with you."

"Don't threaten me!"

Nervously, Kagome played with the hem of her skirt. When she realized what she was doing she put her hands behind her back to keep them still. "I'll let you come to school with me."

"I ain't going!"

Kagome sighed. She had sort of hoped that he would. Maybe if he was near he would be able to fight off the dreams. Without him, it was impossible to tell dream from reality.

"Can I see your hand, Inuyasha?"

Gold eyes opened wide. He didn't pull back when she took one of his hands with both of hers. He held his breath as she gently placed it on her arm. He didn't know what she was doing, and by golly he wasn't about to jinx it by questioning it.

Suddenly Kagome jerked her arm away, and blood stained his claws. Her blood.

"Kagome! What…!"

She winced as she felt her arm sting, and felt blood flow down her arm. Perhaps she had done that a bit too hard, it hurt like the devil! Then she looked at Inuyasha. He looked torn between wanting to beat her to death and comfort her. In the end he looked like a whipped dog.

"I had to be sure," she explained. "Sure that this… that you… that it isn't a dream…"

Inuyasha scowled. "I'm going to talk to Kaede again. This isn't right. Maybe she can do something to fix you."

She nodded.

"Kagome…?"

She looked up at him from her place at the well.

"Never do that again. Never."

He waited at the well until she made her jump with her trusty yellow pack before racing off to find Kaede.

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Author's Notes:

Thanks for your reviews everyone! I really appreciate them. :o)

Thanks to Shoomy2003 for looking the chapter over for me and catching those grammatical errors. Funny how you can proof your own work and not catch the errors no matter how many times you look it over. … at least… I hope that's not just me…


	4. Back Down the Well

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Four: Back Down the Well

Kagome packed her pack full of medical supplies, various flavors of ramen, chips, and candy for Shippo. Being at home was nice, but she was anxious to get back to feudal Japan. Back to clean air, the jewel hunt, and Inuyasha.

She slung the pack over her shoulders and walked to the well house. Who knew that one day one of her favorite scents would be that musty dirt smell that assaults the nose everyone anyone opens the old door? But it meant she was going back, so it ranked pretty high up there on her favorites list.

She jumped.

… and landed badly on the hard ground.

She let out a cry of pain. She wasn't sure if it was from her injured ankle or from the fact that she could tell that the well didn't let her through.

"Noooo!" she screamed as she struggled to her feet. "NO! Let me through! Open up!" She banged on the walls with her fists and kicked at the wall of the well, which accomplished nothing beyond bruising her fingers and toes.

"INUYASHA!"

She screamed his name until her throat was raw. Her face was streaked with tear tracks along her dirty face. Dropping to the ground she hugged her knees tightly and sobbed. She cried until it felt like she was going to be sick. When she heard the well house door open she barely had enough of a voice left to call for help.

"Are you down that stupid well again?" a familiar voice asked irritably.

Kagome began to cry.

"In…Inuyasha…?"

He swore loudly. "Not again, Kagome."

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Author's Notes:

Thanks for your reviews. I know that everyone is a little confused, but Kagome will figure things out as she goes along. Don't worry, I know where I'm going with this. Hopefully it will be worth it.

I know this chapter is short. But it was as long as I felt it needed to be. The next chapter is being proofed (Thanks Shoomy2003!) so it shouldn't be long until it is up too.

To answer some questions: 1. I don't recall if I said if this was AU or not. Hopefully I didn't say. I would hate to spoil anything. 2. Kagome sleeps in both "realities". I actually was working on a part where she was asleep before I read that email. Are you mind reading? 3. Don't worry, I always finish my stories. Although two of them are sort of ongoing because they aren't exactly plot driven and are more open ended.

I hope that answers some questions/concerns without giving too much away.

Till next time:o)


	5. Fear

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Five: Fear

Inuyasha held Kagome as she cried into his shoulder. His back was pressed against the cool stones of the wall in the well and his head rested on top of hers. His heart ached, but he let her continue to cry.

"I'm afraid," she whispered into his shirt once she found her voice. "I don't know what's real anymore…" She sniffled. "When I'm there it seems so real…. I just know it is…. When I'm there, everything here seems like it's the dream". She looked up at him with large pleading eyes that broke his heart. "Am I crazy? I'm so confused!" Tears continued to fall.

"Oh Kagome…." He smoothed her hair as he continued to hold her.

She sighed. "You don't understand how real it is." She sniffled a bit more, ending it with a hiccup. "I couldn't even tell this was the real world until I saw you. I thought this was the dream."

"Kagome," he said seriously, "I'm worried about you."

"I know you are." She picked lint off of his shirt, not wanting to meet his gaze. "I'm a little worried myself."

"I think that… maybe you should talk to someone about this."

Surprised, she looked up. "I am. I'm talking to you."

"That wasn't what I meant."

She shook her head. "No. I'm okay. I'm just tired. Stressed."

"These dreams have been going on for years, Kagome. It's not just stress. It's not because you're tired." He rubbed her back as he spoke. "We need to find out what is causing these dreams so we can fix you."

Kagome froze.

"Fix me?" She bit her lip. "Someone else said that they wanted to fix me. I can't remember who it was… but I have this feeling that I should. Everything is so foggy. So mixed up." She sniffled and rubbed her hands over her eyes to wipe them dry. "I wish I knew what was real."

"I'm real," he told her as he held her tight. "You can trust that. And I can prove it." He shifted her in his arms so that he could see her face. "Remember when we were five and thought we could fly if we glued feathers to our arms? When we couldn't get the glue to stick we used duct tape."

Kagome giggled. "I still have that scar on my hip from the landing."

It took biting his tongue to keep from asking, in a joking manner of course, if he could see it. Flirting, even casual joking flirting, would seem like he was taking advantage of her while she was so vulnerable. So instead he continued his walk down memory lane and started to stroke her hair. "Remember when we were six and decided to eat ALL the candy from Halloween in one night? We spent days being sick."

"We couldn't even LOOK at chocolate for a month after that."

They laughed, and Inuyasha tightened his hold just a little.

"Remember when we were in the fourth grade and we found out you were moving? You kissed me."

Cheeks turned pink. "I remember." Shyly she turned her eyes upward so that she could meet his gaze. "I wanted to make sure that you were my first kiss."

Inuyasha smiled. "All those things happened, Kagome. You have a lifetime of memories before those dreams of demons and jewel hunting started. This is real life." He paused, brushing her hair from her face. "I'm real."

Kagome sighed. "You're right. I know you are. It's just that it really does seem real, you know?"

Reluctantly Inuyasha pushed Kagome away and stood up. He pulled her to her feet and gave her a gentle shove towards the rope ladder. Together they climbed out of the well. They missed first period for sure, and likely second period too. If they were lucky, they might just get to school in time for lunch…

"You really gotta quit jumping down here. One of these days you are going to break your fool neck," he scolded gently.

Once in the sunlight again he took another look at his friend and frowned.

"What did you do to your arm?"

Kagome looked down at her arm. The sleeve was bloody. She was frozen in place. When Inuyasha moved forward and began gingerly rolling her sleeve up, she didn't make a move to stop him. She knew what he was going to find. There was a sharp intake of air as he uncovered the skin, and before he could finish what was perhaps the most foul word in his vocabulary, Kagome fainted.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Inuyasha stared at the claw marks on his friend's arm. After Kagome had revived yesterday, she had told him how she had tricked the hanyou in her dream into clawing her arm, to prove that her trips to feudal Japan were real. It bothered him how much she stressed that it wasn't the dog demon's fault. It bothered him how vehemently she was protecting him.

He would have blamed the deep scratches on the cat if the claw marks were not so large, and deep. He even put his own hand on her arm and was highly disturbed to find that the marks were an exact match for his grip… if he had been born with claws that is.

For the first time, he began wondering if maybe her dreams weren't black and white. Maybe there was something more to it. Maybe there were shades of gray that he had been ignoring. Maybe, just maybe, there was the slightest possibility that this world of hers wasn't exactly a dream.

That means that the other Inuyasha isn't just a dream.

That thought caused him to growl. It was a rather impressive growl considering he wasn't a dog demon. He couldn't remember ever being this angry, or scared.

That means that the other Inuyasha might take his Kagome away from him.

"Inuyasha, you're obsessing," Kagome scolded lightly as she nudged him with her shoulder and tried to regain possession of her arm.

Reluctantly he let her sleeve drop and continued to walk beside her. His mood growing darker with every step he took.

"I was just checking to see if you wrapped it this morning."

"I told you I would."

"Yeah, but you don't exactly have a great track record for doing what you're told."

She laughed, but didn't comment. It would be a lie if she tried to deny it, and one of the many things Inuyasha loved about Kagome was that she didn't lie to him. He stole a glance at her as they walked.

If the other Inuyasha is real, it means that Kagome was actually in love with someone else. Someone he couldn't bully away. Suddenly the whole world seemed to turn gray, and for the first time since Kagome moved back, Inuyasha felt alone… and a little terrified. If Kagome left him this time, she wouldn't be leaving him to go to another city or country, she would be leaving him for a place far out of his reach.

500 years into the past.

He shook his head violently to get rid of these thoughts. He must be spending too much time with the overly imaginative girl. Surely this couldn't really be real. It defied all logic! It just wasn't possible.

But what about those marks on her arm?

Inuyasha felt rather like a stalker for the rest of the day. There was no where Kagome could go that she was out of his eyesight. Well… not counting the bathroom or the girls' locker room during gym. He wasn't Miroku after all. He did, however, talk Sango into taking over the stalking duties her during those times. She had looked at him funny, but Sango didn't ask for explanations.

He wasn't sure what he afraid of if he took his eyes off of Kagome. But he didn't want to find out either.

If she wasn't crazy… if the well really did work… if she really could go to the feudal era to hunt demons… _DEMONS!_ ...would she be forced to choose one time over another? What happens if she doesn't choose this time? What if she chooses the dog demon? The one who alternates between making her angry, making her go all mushy and soft, and breaking her heart….

Inuyasha sighed. There was also the very real possibility that Kagome wasn't going to feudal Japan. Maybe she was hurting herself, unconsciously in her sleep. Maybe she had a split personality. Maybe she was psychotically delusional.

He wasn't too sure which option he preferred. A Kagome who was fighting demons and falling love with some half demon or a Kagome who was off her rocker and hurting herself unintentionally. None of those were very good options. They all ended up hurting her in one way or another. And each way threatened to take his precious friend away from him.

As Kagome bent her head over her notebook and worked on the math problems on the board, Inuyasha began making a list.

My world is real, the other one isn't:

1. I know it is real. I have the memories to prove it.

2. People who exist in both worlds: Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kaede, Kikyo, Sesshomaru, Hojo, Souta. (All existed in MY world before Kagome began dreaming them).

3. People who only exist in the other world: Naraku, Kanna, Kagura, Kouga, Kirara, Rin, Jaken.

4. Demons: no such thing.

5. Magic: ha!

6. Time travel: scientifically impossible.

7. Kagome's mother LETTING her time travel with a male half dog demon: less likely than the possibility of magic existing.

The other world is real:

1. Claw marks on arm, size of my hand (Kagome's is too small to make those marks).

2. Kagome is so sure it's real.

Even though the first list was much longer, and should have made him feel better. The short list was just too compelling. He couldn't get those claw marks out of his head. If this Inuyasha character really did exist, then he was too dangerous for Kagome to be with. Too dangerous for her mental health, and far too dangerous for her physical health.

He had to keep her from going down the well again. It wasn't safe and it had to stop. _But how? Board it up? Tear it down?_

"Is my class cutting into your study of Ms. Higurashi?"

Inuyasha cringed. He hadn't noticed the teacher walking over and standing at his desk. That super demon dog hearing sure would have come in handy right about now. The smart remark on his lips died when he saw Kagome's worried expression. He took a deep breath and reined in his temper.

"Sorry." The teacher raised one infuriating eyebrow. Inuyasha clenched his jaw and ground his teeth before speaking again. "Sorry. Sir."

"As fascinating as Ms. Higurashi is," the teacher said as he ambled slowly back up the aisle amid the snickering students, "Let us try to take a moment and focus on math. Ms. Higurashi, perhaps you can find the time in your very busy schedule to come up to the board and show the class how this problem is solved."

Inuyasha cringed and slunk down in his seat. He watched as Kagome walked to the front of the class as if she were walking to the front of a firing squad. Math wasn't her best subject. Inuyasha knew that. The teacher knew that. Heck, everyone knew that. At that moment, Inuyasha couldn't think of a single person he hated more than that teacher. Kagome was being punished for something that he did. It wasn't fair. Halfway up to the board she turned her head back to search him out. He tried to look as apologetic as possible. She gave him a small smile in return.

She stood in front of the board and stared at it. Inuyasha willed her to get the answer right, or at least get most of the sections of it right. At least enough so that no one would tease her. She made her first mark and paused.

"Quickly, please," sniped the teacher. After another moment of Kagome studying the problem, the teacher huffed out a puff of air. "Less time socializing and more time paying attention in class and perhaps you would be able to solve the problem. Take your seat and give someone else a chance."

"No," she whispered. "I can do this."

Inuyasha blinked. _She can?_

He watched as slowly she began to figure out the long complex problem. She was doing it. She was solving it! When she turned to face the class after correctly solving the equation, Inuyasha actually stood up and whooped out a cheer. The irate teacher gave them both detention for being disruptive, but it was worth it.

A new problem was put on the board, and this time Inuyasha went to write it down in his notebook. He touched the page to turn it and saw his list again.

Kagome solved an intricate mathematical equation. With no erasing. No mistakes.

The pencil in Inuyasha's hand snapped from the pressure. With what was left of the portion of the pencil, he added one more line to his list.

3. Kagome solves math problem.

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Author's Notes:

Just got the chapter back from Shoomy2003 who looked it over for mistakes. Thanks!

And thanks to the reviewers who let me know that in Chapter One I mentioned something about AU. I read it again just to make sure I didn't goof. It mentions AU, but not necessarily that the story was AU, just if you don't like AU give this story a chance. I don't want to give anything away one way or another, so let's just say it could be either.

Confusion shall be clearing up verrrry soon though.

Maybe...


	6. Crazy

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Six: Crazy

Inuyasha stood over her bed. She was sleeping so peacefully that it was almost a shame to wake her up.

Almost.

The hanyou scooped up the girl and grabbed her yellow backpack. He hoped she had some extra clothes in there, he didn't really feel like making another trip to the future. In fact, he would prefer it if she didn't come back at all.

Which was actually his plan.

She would eventually forgive him for what he had planned. Once the well was destroyed she wouldn't have to worry about this other Inuyasha. Kaede hadn't figured out a blasted thing about the dreams yet, so it was up to him to fix things. As usual. Destroy the well and the problem would be fixed. Women just tried to make things harder than they should be.

One foot was on the window sill when he noticed that the bag was rather light. Gently he set Kagome back on the bed and opened up the pack.

Empty.

Inuyasha glared at the bag.

Then glared at the girl.

Why is the bag empty? She was supposed to be back this afternoon. He didn't want to think about the icy feeling in his chest when for a brief instant he thought that she wasn't planning on ever coming back. But that was just stupid. Right?

_Right?_

Squatting down on his haunches he studied the bag. No clothes, no ramen, no books, no candy or chips… nothing. He poked around it on the inside, trying to recall a time he had ever seen it empty. Never. He couldn't recall every having seen the bag empty. He poked again. Why was it empty? It just didn't make sense.

Maybe… maybe she wasn't planning on coming back…

Inuyasha sprung too his feet, fiercely shaking that disturbing thought out of his head. He snarled out a curse about it being just too bad as he opened up her dresser drawers and started pulling out clothes he recognized Kagome wearing. He stuffed all the uniforms that she was so fond of wearing into the bag. He also packed a few of the clothes he had seen her wear, like the sundress and sweater. The clothes would make her feel more comfortable while she made the… transition. Eventually he would find someone to make her other clothes when these wore out.

Then he added the other clothes that he only saw a few times, even though he knew he wasn't supposed to, and hoped he brought enough. She seemed rather protective of those scraps of cloth considering no one ever got to see them.

The books were ignored. Well, not ignored. They were sneered at and kicked under the bed. They weren't, however, put in the bag.

After making a quick trip to the kitchen to raid it of all of its cups of ramen, Inuyasha came back to check on the sleeping girl. Good, she was still asleep. He heard her whimper, and knew she was having another nightmare. Probably about math again. Nodding to himself, he confirmed that he was doing the right thing.

He found her sleeping bag and a pillow and set them by the bag. He'd strap them together before he left. What else was he forgetting?

Ah ha!

He remembered all that bathroom stuff she liked so much. The soaps and shampoos. He went into her bathroom and picked up everything he could find. They wouldn't last for long, so she would eventually have to find something to substitute. There were similar smelling flowers that he had come upon on their journey, maybe they could find some way to turn that into soap.

He took out a couple cups of ramen to make room for the soaps.

Beside her desk he noticed pads of drawing paper and several boxes of crayons, obviously special for presents for Shippo. He looked at the bag then at the paper and crayons.

He took out a few more cups of ramen to make more room.

There was a family photo that she would be upset if she never saw again, so he grabbed that too. The one of her friends from this era was left behind. She didn't need reminders of THEM. He surveyed the room once more to make sure that he didn't miss anything, then he strapped the pillow and bedroll to the overstuffed backpack then put it on. She would forgive him for this one day. He just hoped he survived the sittings until then.

"Let's go, Kagome," he whispered to the girl as he picked her up gently.

He gave the room one last glance before he turned to the window. He would miss this room too. He would miss the smells and the sense of peace that he found there. _But_, he told himself, _it is just a room. I'll make Kagome a new room._

Inhaling deeply he said good-bye to the room and to Kagome's family. He turned to the window and got ready to jump.

"Inuyasha?"

He froze.

The girl in his arms rubbed her eyes and looked up at him with sleepy eyes. She looked confused. He tried to decide if he should chance it and bolt for the well with her and hope she didn't catch on too quick. Or he could try to talk to her and convince her to go back. He'd destroy the well while she was off taking one of those baths of hers.

"You were taking too long, so I came to get you."

"You… came… to get me?"

She shook her head and looked at him like she had never seen him before. He hated that look. Hated it. HATED it! The talking thing just wasn't going to work out, he could tell, so he bunched up his muscles and got ready to run. Then she melted his bones as her eyes cleared and a smile bloomed. It was one of those smiles that made you feel all warm and stupid inside.

"INUYASHA!" she threw her arms around him and held him tight. "You came to get me!"

"Keh. I just said that, wench."

Then she started crying. Nothing made him feel more useless and pathetic than Kagome's tears. She mumbled some nonsense at him, but he couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell him. Then he heard it. HE had been here.

Growling, Inuyasha set Kagome on her feet and prowled around the room, trying to pick up the scent. He ignored her giggle and continued to hunt.

But he was overwhelmed with Kagome's scent. Eventually he made himself ignore her scent and focused on the other scents. Her mother had been in the room earlier in the day. He followed the trail. She had moved from the door to the dresser and to the closet, but that was it. Her brother's scent was light, as if he had only come in a few steps then left. Her grandfather's scent was outside the door, but not inside the room. But that was it. No other human scents.

Leaving the room he sniffed his way down the stairs to the kitchen and living room. But there were still no other human scents.

"We worked on our homework at the kitchen table then went into the living room to watch television," Kagome told him.

"I don't smell anyone else," he told her as he stood back up. He studied the girl in front of him. She wasn't telling lies. She believed what she told him. And she was getting dangerously close to a panic attack.

"Maybe your sniffer is broken!"

Inuyasha touched his nose. "It ain't broken, wench!"

"He was here! I know he was here! Ask Mama! We ate cookies!"

Inuyasha looked away, hating the pleading expression on her face. He hated the tiny edge of panic in her voice. He almost wished he COULD smell the other Inuyasha. Anything to take away that pinched look that said she was trying not to cry.

"We'll figure this out, Kagome," he told her, laying his hands on her shoulders to keep them from shaking so badly.

Quickly he dashed upstairs to grab the bag. With luck he could get Kagome out of the house and down the well before she had a chance to think.

But Inuyasha wasn't really a lucky dog. By the time he got downstairs Kagome was insisting on a bath and changing out of her pajamas before she left.

PAJAMAS! That's what he forgot! While Kagome splashed around in her bath, Inuyasha grabbed the two sets of pajamas for her that he found. He left the bag by the door, hoping that she wouldn't want to check inside before they left. But sure enough, that's exactly what she wanted to do. As soon as her fingers touched the bag he snatched it from her grasp and threw it over his shoulders.

"We're already late," he informed her as he grabbed her wrist to start hauling her towards the well.

"Late? For what?" She didn't get an answer. They were down the well before she got a chance to ask again.

The glow had not even entirely faded yet when she heard her name.

"KAGOME!"

Shippo leaped into her arms as soon as her feet touch the ground on the other side of the well. She smiled at him and hugged him tight.

"You're early!" he exclaimed.

"Early?" She shot Inuyasha a scathing glare. "I thought we were late?"

Shippo cocked his head to one side and gave her a funny look. "What would you be late for? It's the middle of the night."

Kagome sent Inuyasha a look which he ignored.

"Do you have any pocky?" Shippo asked excitedly.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure." She smiled at him and reached for her bag. "Let me check."

But Inuyasha moved the bag from her and stalked off, with his arms wrapped tightly around it, towards the village. He yelled back at them to hurry it up, that they didn't have all day. Kagome and Shippo looked at each other. Then up at the dark sky where the stars still twinkled. Dawn had yet to break. Then they shrugged and followed Inuyasha back to the village.

As they approached Kaede's hut, Inuyasha heard Miroku and Sango whispering in hushed voices. They were talking about Kagome.

"Perhaps the lady Kagome has been under too much stress of late. The mind sometimes plays tricks. Inuyasha does push her too hard."

"Perhaps," agreed Sango. "But it is also possible that these are just dreams. Maybe she is dreaming up the perfect Inuyasha. One who is not so pushy and overbearing. One who does not have someone else that he also loves."

"Because the Inuyasha in her life pushes her away, she creates one that wants her?" Miroku made a humming sound. "That is very possible."

"Though you may be right about the stress. Sometimes when a mind is close to breaking it creates something that it can handle."

Inuyasha ground his teeth. Were they actually blaming HIM? He was about to storm in there and yell when he noticed how still Kagome was standing beside him. Good thing she only had weak pathetic human hearing, other wise she'd… were those tears? Oh great. She did hear.

Dropping her bag by the entrance he snatched Kagome from her spot and threw her on his back and as he tossed Shippo through the doorway. The kit could explain their absence to the others. The way he was feeling right now it probably wasn't safe for him to be around them. He was FURIOUS! So instead he ran until he felt Kagome stop shaking, either from anger or sorrow, he wasn't sure. But he wasn't quite up to facing either one of those extreme emotions.

A nice open spot was chosen to have the confrontation. That way he didn't have to focus so hard on trying to sense demons AND have an intelligent conversation about what they just heard. The open area would let him see danger coming a mile away. He let her slip from his back. When she sat on the ground he crouched beside her.

They sat in silence and watched the sun rise.

"They think I'm crazy."

Inuyasha snorted. "No they don't."

"They do. I heard them."

"Are you sure we heard the same conversation? 'Cuz they didn't say you were crazy."

Kagome turned her head towards him and he could tell that she was trying not to smile at him. "It's what they meant though."

"Feh."

Another few long moments passed in silence.

"Do you really like him better?"

"Huh?"

He looked away, ears flicking to catch any sound of approaching danger. He half hoped that something would appear so he could escape.

"The other Inuyasha. Do you really wish I were more like him?"

When she didn't say anything right away he turned his eyes in her direction. He couldn't tell if the stunned look was a good thing or a bad thing. So he looked away again. Now would be the perfect time for a demon attack. Heck, he'd even welcome any sign of Kouga at this point. He was about to make some lame excuse and take her back to the village when he felt her soft touch on his hand. He looked down to see her fingers covering his own.

"I wouldn't change a thing about you, Inuyasha."

He smirked. "Maybe I was too quick to say you weren't crazy."

Kagome laughed, squeezing his fingers. "Idiot," she said.

Slowly, Inuyasha let his fingers interlace with hers. They were warm. He looked down at them and let his thumb move over them slightly. They looked so small compared to his. So incredibly fragile. How was he going to protect her from this? If only it was some demon he could destroy. Some THING that he could attack. His every instinct screamed at him to protect her. But he didn't know how.

"You're not crazy, Kagome," he said, a little surprised that he believed that one hundred percent. "And I know you aren't making up stories. And I know it isn't just some dream. I don't know what it is yet, but we'll figure it out." He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "I promise you."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Thank you."

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Author's Notes:

I noticed I left off a letter of a word when I first posted this chapter as well as a few inconsistencies with the tenses (I noticed too late, but thanks for pointing it out aradow, tenses are a pain in the keister), so I fixed it, deleted it (the chapter), and reposted. I also couldn't help but change a few things here and there while I was at it.

I hope all the problems are fixed this time around.

Next chapter coming soon!


	7. Returning to You

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Seven: Returning to You

"…quiz on Monday. I hope that you have…"

Poke.

"…all studied transcendentals…"

Poke.

"… and complex powers…"

Poke.

"…as well as studied about…"

Poke. Poke.

"…the letter 'e'. In fact, there will be…"

Poke. "Pssst. Kagome…"

"…an essay on the letter 'e'."

_An essay on the letter 'e'?_ Inuyasha stopped poking Kagome with the eraser of his pencil. _What the heck? _He glanced around and saw other startled expressions. He let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't the only one thrown for a loop. Maybe they would be graded on a curve.

"Kagome," he hissed impatiently. "Wake up." He poked her once more.

He was sorry that he did.

Kagome woke up with a startled gasp. Her head shot up and her body jerked, knocking her books and papers to the floor. Then she looked around the room like she had no idea where she was, eyes wide and full of fear. Her breathing stopped. Just as Inuyasha was beginning to think she was going to start turning blue and was searching his brain for how to administer CPR, Kagome began hyperventilating.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha dropped the pencil and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Is there a problem?" asked the teacher coolly as he walked over to them with short, quick steps. Body language told everyone how extremely irritated he was at the interruption, including how he stepped right smack in the middle of her notebook. Though the icy tone of voice was a complete giveaway too. _Then again, _Inuyasha thought, _he's always sounds like that.._

"No," cried Kagome, still looking like she was caught in some sort of a trap.

"Good, then let us get back to…"

"It's not possible!"

The teacher narrowed his eyes and placed his fists on Kagome's desk. His face flushed with indignation. "WHAT did you say?"

"I didn't jump… I shouldn't be here… I didn't go through the well… It's not possible…"

The teacher took a step back and looked down at his student nervously when she looked up at him with tear filled eyes that were begging him to… to... he wasn't sure what… He looked at the young man sitting behind her who looked scared and concerned. For a brief moment he felt a jolt of concern and pity. Then realized what the girl was up to.

"Pleas of insanity will not get you out of tomorrow's quiz."

"I was just there… I… I only fell asleep for a moment… but I was THERE!" Her voice rose in pitch, and her eyes were wide and frantic. Then she began hyperventilating again, her hand clutching her chest as every third breath was accented by a very painful sounding hiccup. Many of the students were good at conjuring up tears at the drop of a hat, but the teacher doubted that anyone could fake a panic attack like this one.

"Er… perhaps you should escort Ms. Higurashi to the nurse's office…"

Inuyasha didn't need to be asked twice. He swept up his books and Kagome's and threw both book bags over his shoulder. Then he coaxed Kagome up onto her feet and put his arm around her shaking shoulders to support her and guide her out of the room, ignoring the curious looks and whispers.

He led her down the empty hallway, stopping at the water fountain on the way. Leaning against the wall he let her drink the slightly warm and metallic tasting water as she struggled to get herself under control.

"Feeling any better?" he asked once her hiccups subsided.

"It was different this time, Inuyasha," she said without looking at him. Instead she stared at the grayish piece of gum in the drain of the water fountain. "I didn't jump down the well or anything this time. I just… woke up… here."

"It was just a dream." He brushed her hair over her shoulder and caught it at the nape of her neck. Slowly he let her hair go and watched it fall back onto her shoulders. His heart was literally aching for her, wishing he knew how to comfort her. "It was just a dream. You're with me now. Everything's going to be okay." He leaned forward and rested his head on hers. "It was just a dream."

Her voice was just a whisper, but he still heard her. "Was it?"

Inuyasha put his arm over her shoulder and once more started leading her down to the nurse's office.

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Kagome stared up at the ceiling from the uncomfortable bed in the nurse's office, counting the tiles for the fifth time. It gave her something to do to keep her mind off of the dream.

Worse than the dream was thinking about Inuyasha. Both of them.

Flipping over to her side she focused on the wall in front of her and tried to find pictures in the swirls of plaster. It didn't help. She still thought about Inuyasha. Both of them.

This Inuyasha had been her best friend for her entire life. She loved him. But did she just love him as a friend or as something more? He made her heart fill calm and warm. He made her feel safe and happy. He was in every one of her most cherished memories. She couldn't imagine life without him.

The other Inuyasha had been her friend and protector since her fifteenth birthday. Well, maybe not on THAT day, but shortly after they became friends. She had fallen in love with him not very long after that, though it had taken her a few months to figure that out. He made her… well… crazy most of the time. He made her feel mad, sad, happy, stupid… a whole rainbow of emotions. But mostly he made her feel safe and happy. And she couldn't imagine life without him.

But his memory was starting to fade and it made her heart hurt.

This had to stop. One of them was real, the other wasn't. But which one? And… did she have a choice in the matter?

What if she did?

What if this was a secret wish she didn't know she had that Midoriko was granting? It was certainly possible. Not that she wanted Inuyasha human, she just wanted him with her and wanted him to care for her. Would she be forced to choose one over the other? It would be impossible to choose which world to stay in, she loved both too much.

Which Inuyasha did she want to be with?

Her heart began to beat fiercely and tears began to leak from her eyes. It would also be impossible to keep on the way that she was, living with one foot in both worlds. Her sanity wouldn't survive.

What if she would have to eventually make a choice? Sighing heavily she vowed to never give Inuyasha… the other one, her cute insufferable dog-earred half demon… a difficult time about Kikyo again. Making choices wasn't easy. She thought about the two Inuyashas in her life.

Kagome truly loved both of them.

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Author's Note: I hope I did a better job with the tenses this time. Hope you stay tuned for the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!


	8. Inuyasha's Path to Self Discovery

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Eight: Inuyasha's Path to Self Discovery

It was difficult keeping his temper as he wrapped her ankle. He wanted to yell at her for jumping down the well… again. All weekend she had been jumping down the stupid thing. Her arms and legs were scratched up badly, and he couldn't even count all the bruises. And just that morning she sprained her right ankle badly.

Taking away her crutches didn't deter her either, she just hopped over to the well house.

So there he was re-wrapping her ankle as they sat at the bottom of the well. She had made a dash for it when he let her out of his sight to go use the restroom. He shrugged to himself, deciding that he would just have to tie her to something if he had to leave the room, or handcuff her to him. He smiled a bit at that last thought.

"You have to stop jumping, Kagome."

"I can't."

"Yes you can. If you don't, I'll just have to tear this thing down."

She frowned at him and unsuccessfully tried to tug her ankle away from his hands. "Why do you guys always think the answer to things is to tear it down or plug it up?"

"You have to stop."

"I. Am. Not. Crazy."

Inuyasha secured the loose end of the wrap and let her have her leg back. "Then stop jumping down old dried up wells. You're going to end up in the hospital with all your bones broken. What am I supposed to tell people? What do I tell your family after you've snapped your neck? What do I tell your mother when you die down here?" He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "I can't live without you, Kagome. Don't do this to me."

It wasn't necessarily the way that he planned on telling her how he felt. It was a little too late to take the words back, though. _Maybe she wasn't paying attention,_ he hoped. He glanced at her shocked face and dropped jaw. _Figures she'd start paying attention NOW._ Quickly he kept the conversation moving so she wouldn't have time to think about what he said.

"I know that this is confusing for you. I can't even begin to imagine how confusing though. But, Kagome, this is real. We are. I am. Our school, our friends, our memories. This is real life."

"I know," she whispered, sounding defeated.

Seeing as how it didn't look like she was going to attempt to scramble up the well for another plunge, Inuyasha felt safe in scooting around to sit beside her. He bumped her with his shoulder, and she leaned her head against it and took his hand in hers.

"Tell me something real," she asked softly.

Inuyasha thought for a moment, then smiled broadly. "I remember the first time you baked me cookies."

She groaned. "I meant something nice. Don't you have any good stories?"

"It is a good story."

"No it's not. It's a Kagome-is-a-stupid-idiot story."

"It's cute!" he insisted. "I remember that you couldn't tell the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon, so the salt and baking powder was more than quadrupled! And you chopped up the unsweetened baking chocolate thinking it would be the same as regular chocolate chips."

"Yeah yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around her drawn up legs, "And I put it on Broil instead of Bake. I was there. I'm the one who had to explain why the fire trucks were outside our house to my mom."

"Hey, remember the cinnamon toast you made? You just sprinkled on a ton of cinnamon on the bread instead of mixing it with sugar."

Kagome smiled, albeit reluctantly. "You ate it though." She poked him in the ribs. "Don't you have any non-cooking disaster memories?"

"Sure… but they aren't as much fun."

"Well," smirked the girl as her eyes twinkled merrily, "I remember when you decided that you could cut your own hair." It was Inuyasha's turn to groan. It was the second worst haircut in the world. "Then," Kagome said in a syrupy sweet voice, the kind that made his DANGER radar go off. "You decided to cut MY hair." Second worst haircut next to Kagome's.

"I thought we decided to never talk about that again."

"You bring up my cooking, I bring up your hair styling."

Inuyasha grimaced. "Don't call it hair styling. There was no styling involved. Just a little cutting."

"Hacking."

"Whatever."

Kagome laughed, making Inuyasha's heart do that little fluttery thing. "This is kind of fun. We should do it more often."

Inuyasha looked up at the circle of light above them, then around the darkened well. He hoped she meant the hanging out and strolling down memory lane with him, not the jumping down the well and patching up sprained limbs part. He couldn't help but smile at her though. It was the first time she laughed all weekend.

"You're my best memories, Inuyasha."

"You're my best memories, too."

"Let's go to the movies," she suggested as she (unfortunately) pulled away from him. "I think we deserve a treat."

"Great, from one dark and smelly place to another."

"INUYASHA!"

Chuckling he stood up and carefully pulled her upright. He was starting to get pretty good at hauling her up the well. It was improving his upper body strength. He should probably thank her for the great workout. Briefly he wondered if he gained any muscle mass over this.

Once out of the well he gave Kagome a piggy back ride while carrying her crutches into her house. He dropped her off in her bedroom so she could change into something more appropriate for the movies. Something clean. Inuyasha leaned against her door and listened to her awkward movements, trying to pretend for a moment that this was a real date instead of just going out as friends. Of course, if it was a real date he probably wouldn't be outside her door listening in on her like this. He pulled away from her door and leaned against the wall instead.

She really was all his best memories. _In fact,_ he smiled, _she's in all my memories._

All of them.

But was that really possible? Surely not. There had to be memories that didn't involve Kagome. But he couldn't think of a single one. There wasn't even one from when she moved away. He remembered seeing her leave… he remembered feeling so desperately alone… and then he remembered seeing her again. But there was nothing in between. Absolutely nothing.

Before he could question his memory quirk, Kagome opened the door.

His heart fluttered again. It may not be a real date, but she was dressed like it was. She was wearing a pretty yellow sundress with a pale blue sweater folded over one arm. A faint flowery scent lingered in the hair, causing him to grin like an idiot. She was wearing perfume. For him.

Well, it was possible she was wearing it because she wanted to smell nice for herself, but he was allowed to be as delusional as he wanted to be.

"You look nice," he said.

She blushed at the compliment. Then he blushed too. They were having an actual 'moment'. Maybe it was a date after all! Holding his breath he took one of the biggest chances of his life… and reached for her hand.

And she didn't pull away!

_Does life get any better than this?_

The walk to the movie theater and the movie itself was all a blur. He could have teleported there for all he knew. The only thing that was registering in his brain was that he was holding hands with Kagome. He couldn't recall buying the tickets or going into the theater, his whole world revolved around the hand holding his. He was barely even aware when Sango and Miroku found them outside the theater once whatever movie they apparently saw was over. When they went for some ice cream, Inuyasha couldn't even manage to work up any irritation over them inviting themselves along.

What did catch his attention, however, were the stories that Sango and Miroku were sharing with Kagome while they ate their ice cream. Every single story involved Kagome in one way or another. Had any of them ever talked about their lives before they came to their school?

"Soooo… what was your life like before you came to our school?" Inuyasha asked Miroku hesitantly.

For a moment the other boy looked blankly back at him. Then he blinked and smiled warmly. "It is in the past, and best forgotten."

"Surely you left some friends there. Or family?"

Miroku shrugged. "I've left no one behind."

Inuyasha turned his attention to Sango. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"What was your life like before you moved here? Did you leave any friends or family behind?" His heart was beating hard. His chest was aching. The sinking feeling in his stomach was making him nauseas. Pushing his spoon around his dish of ice cream, he studied his friends. He saw Kagome lick a drop of ice cream that was running down the side of her ice cream cone. But… the cone that Miroku had wasn't dripping… and neither was the ice cream in Sango's banana split.

Sango shrugged. "I like to focus on the present. The past is best forgotten."

"What…." Inuyasha paused, unsure if he wanted to ask anymore questions. It already felt as if someone had ripped the heart and lungs out of his chest. "What were you and Miroku up to before meeting us at the theater? Out on a date or something?" He noticed Kagome perk up at the idea.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other for a moment, then turned smiling faces Inuyasha. "Nothing important. Just hanging."

Inuyasha fell silent and drummed his fingers on the table as they began chatting animatedly to Kagome. Now that he thought about it… what had HE been doing before coming over to Kagome's? He couldn't remember. In fact… he was having a difficult time even trying to picture a time when he wasn't with Kagome.

It wasn't possible… was it?

Wishing he could push the disturbing thoughts from his head he decided he would find Shippo and question him about his memories too. He got up from the table and went to the door. But he couldn't open it. His heart wouldn't let him leave Kagome. In fact, he couldn't even manage to put his hand against the door.

"Let's track down Shippo," he suggested suddenly. "We'll go to the arcade or something and play some video games."

"Sounds like fun!"

Kagome stood up and met him at the door. They waved good-bye to Sango and Miroku before heading down the street. Inuyasha watched as Kagome pulled out a cell phone and speed dialed Shippo. Shippo was number three on speed dial.

"What number is Miroku on your speed dial?"

Kagome held up five fingers as she said hello to Shippo over the phone. He mouthed the word 'Sango' and she held up four fingers. Kagome told Shippo to meet them at the arcade as Inuyasha pointed to himself. She shook her head at him and gave a laugh. Saying good-bye to Shippo she locked her phone and put it back in her purse.

"You don't even have a phone," she laughed.

"Odd…" Why wouldn't he have a phone? He checked his pockets. Nope, no phone.

"You're just a yell away anyhow," she reminded him.

_And who else would I call?_ He tried remembering ever calling Miroku or Sango or Shippo. Had he ever even used a phone? He couldn't remember. He couldn't imagine needing to call anyone but Kagome, but since he was always with her… He froze in his spot, nearly causing Kagome to run into him.

"Kagome…" He made sure he had hold of her hand again, and hoped his wasn't as sweaty or as shaky as he thought it was. "Do you ever go hang out with Sango? You know… doing girl things?"

"Sure."

"Oh… like what?"

She tilted her head and thought about it for a moment. "Hmmm… Oh! Monday after school we went shoe shopping."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh. I bought these." She held her right sandaled foot in front of them and showed off her pretty new shoe.

Her right foot. The one that was severely twisted this morning. Where was the bandage? Where were the crutches? Why didn't he notice they were missing? And he couldn't recall a time on Monday that he wasn't with Kagome. When would she have had the time to go shopping without him knowing?

"Hey Shippo!" Kagome let go of his hand as she waved at their friend who appeared around the corner. "Over here!"

"Kagome!" The red head squealed and glomped on to the girl. Honestly, the kid acted like a child most of the time.

They each bought tokens for the video games. The loud noise and flashing lights were very disorienting. Twice Inuyasha lost sight of Kagome as they threaded their way through the crowd, each time pumped a gallon of adrenaline into his body as he tried not to panic. Eventually he took care of the problem by catching hold of her hand and refusing to let go.

The first game they played was a car racing game. The three of them were able to compete against each other. Inuyasha had hoped that the games would take his mind off of his disturbing thoughts. But the more he tried to not think about it, the more he thought about it. Shippo and Kagome teased him about coming in last place. He smiled and shrugged. He could hardly tell them that he was busy contemplating his existence to pay much attention to the driving simulation.

They chose a fighting game next. Shippo and Inuyasha played first. The winner, Inuyasha, played Kagome. The loser of that match, Kagome, played Shippo.

Inuyasha watched Kagome while she fought Shippo. Her arm would twitch when she threw a punch. Her leg would give a small jerk when her character kicked. When the character would draw an arrow and a bow would appear, Kagome's eyes would light up. She focused on the fight with an intensity he had never noticed before.

The fight ended, and by Kagome's victory dance he guessed she was the winner. He let her drag her to the dance pad. Now was the time to talk with Shippo. He grabbed the back of his friend's shirt before he could take off to the other dance station.

"Hey Shippo."

"Yeah?"

Inuyasha let go of his friend and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "What do you remember from when you were a kid? You know, before you met me and Kagome?"

Shippo grinned. "Life before Kagome?" He laughed. "No such thing."

"Seriously," Inuyasha brought his hands back out of his pocket and put them behind his back as he scuffed his shoe against the floor of the arcade. "What was life like before you came here?"

"I…I don't know." Shippo looked confused for a moment, then he smiled. "The past…"

"…is best forgotten." Inuyasha frowned as he watched Shippo scamper off. "I was afraid you'd say that."

He leaned back against the wall and watched as Kagome's feet moved. Looking his direction she threw him a devastating smile. He clenched his fists and felt like screaming. It was unfair. It was so unfair! He loved her!

_What am I going to do? I can't lose her. I just can't._ There had to be a way.

The walk home seemed shorter than usual. Kagome chatted happily, but he was too caught up in his own thoughts to remember what it was that she actually said. He waited until she closed the door before slumping down on the ground, his head falling to his knees. He kept his back to the door, suddenly worried that if he broke off the connection to her that he would disappear.

"I should go home," he told himself.

Only… he wasn't really sure where home was. He knew it was next door to Kagome. But which one? The only home he could picture in his head was Kagome's home. The only bedroom he could conjure was filled with pink colors and lace, definitely not his own. Everything in his life that didn't involve Kagome was a void.

"The hanyou isn't the dream…" he whispered hoarsely, "I am."

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Author's Note:

Thanks for your reviews! It doesn't bother me when anyone points out a mistake, (I know that I don't always notice grammatical errors and spell check isn't all that reliable) just so long as they do it nicely. If not nicely, then at least not meanly.

Hope the story hasn't been tooooo confusing. It's not over yet though! Still a few more chapters to go.

In the beginning I said to give the story a chance even if you didn't like AU, but I didn't mean that this story WAS an AU…


	9. Waking Up In Your Arms

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Nine: Waking Up in Your Arms

MMMmmm. The breeze felt kind of nice.

Breeze?

Kagome cracked open one eye only to find that her world was a blur. She felt weightless, out of control. Her stomach felt like it dropped out from underneath her, like she was on a roller coaster. She grabbed tightly to the closest thing to her.

Red… fabric?

It was so familiar. For a moment she didn't believe her eyes. Her fingers trembled as she opened her left hand and flattened her palm against the chest of the man holding her. There was a startled gasp above her, then the world crashed to a halt. Arms of steel tightened around her, threatening to cut off her air supply. Silver hair…

Ah, who needed to breathe anyhow?

"Thank the gods…"

The relief in his voice actually worried Kagome. Was Inuyasha hurt? Did someone die? Was her family okay? What was wrong? Who was hurt?

"Inuyasha?"

"I thought… I thought…" He cleared his voice, tightening his arms once more around her before setting her down gently and standing up straight. Turning his back to her he said gruffly, "You're late."

"Late?"

What was surprising was the fact that there was no confusion as there usually was when she woke up lately, or disorientation about when or where she was. Or who she was really with. This was Inuyasha.

"I…" His voice caught for a moment. It was rough and gravely sounding. "We thought…" There was a long moment of silence that Kagome was unwilling to break. Finally he just blurted it out. "Are you planning on leaving us?"

"WHAT?" The miko took a step back in shock. That was the very last thing she expected him to say. "Of course not! I don't want to ever leave you!" She backpedaled a bit, not wanting to scare off the hanyou with any personal revelations. Even after all this time it still embarrassed him. "I don't want to leave any of you!"

His eyes were full of anguish when he turned to face her. "You stayed away so long this time. And you just left. Didn't say a word to me. To any of us. Not one word! You just left." His voice was rough and strained, hands clenching and twitching. "I couldn't get through the well to you." Looking away he paused for a moment. "I thought… we all thought… that you sealed it."

"Oh Inuyasha!" She threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. To heck with not wanting to frighten him away. "Never. I'd never ever seal the well. It would kill me to leave you."

He let his arms fall around her and hug her back. At first gently, then forcefully, as if he was afraid to ever let her go.

"You left me…"

Kagome's heart nearly broke at his whispered words.

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Inuyasha sat in the corner of the hut with his arms wrapped around his sword and his eyes closed. It was easier to focus all of his attention on Kagome that way. He could filter out the other smells and concentrate on her scent. He could train his ears on her so he could even hear her heartbeat if he listened hard enough. All day Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had already been merciless in their teasing about how he wouldn't let the miko out of his sight for even a moment. At least this way he could obsess about her without looking like he was obsessing.

"So you did not seal the well as we had feared," Inuyasha heard monk say. The hanyou snorted, Kagome only told them that a hundred times already. How many times did he have to hear it?

A slight rustling of hair brushing against fabric indicated that Kagome was shaking her head. "No," she said with a thread of patience. "I didn't seal the well."

The fire crackled. Miroku's staff jangled as he was attempting to scoot closer to Sango without her noticing. Inuyasha wasn't sure he understood the monk's desire to get his face smacked every day, at least once. Sure he understood the need to be close to the person you care about. He even understood the desire to touch. After all, he lived for the moments Kagome held his hand or rested her head against his shoulder. Heck, one of the best things about battles was that Kagome would tend to his wounds and patch him up, even though he didn't really need it. But the monk KNEW that he would get hit if he touched the slayer THERE!

"This other Inuyasha seems to be courting you."

A muscle in the hanyou's forehead twitched. Inuyasha wanted to snarl at Sango for bringing that little tidbit of information up, but kept silent. There was a slight possibility that Kagome wasn't quite aware of that fact that she was being courted, and he really didn't want her to be thinking about it. Or considering it.

"It was just a date, Sango," giggled Kagome.

_Just a date. Not a courtship. She doesn't love him. He can't steal her from me._ Inuyasha sighed. _ If only I could find him so I can just kill him._

"But did you not say that 'dating' is how young men and women find their mates?"

Inuyasha grit his teeth. He bet that Miroku said the word 'mate' just to get a rise out of him. Well that was just TOO BAD. He wasn't going to get suckered into the conversation like that. Why was Kagome 'dating' this guy anyhow? Just because he had _his_ name it didn't make him HIM. Come to think about it, didn't she 'date' that other boy awhile back? That wimpy one. The idiot who called Kagome 'Escargot Pudding' or some nonsense when they were in some sort of 'play' at her school. _What was his name again?_ His brows pulled together as he glared at the sandy haired boy in his head. _What was Kagome doing 'dating' anyone at all anyhow?_

He was so busy picturing mangled male bodies (some with sandy brown hair and some with wolf tails) that he almost missed Kagome talking about The Date.

"First we went to the movies. We had sodas and popcorn."

_Big deal,_ grumped Inuyasha. Kagome had taken HIM to the movies before too. THEY had sodas and popcorn. Plus they had candy too. Two different kinds!

"We had such a good time! It was a comedy, so we laughed a lot through the whole thing. Then after the movie we went out to have some ice cream. The other Sango and Miroku were there too."

_So what?_ Kagome had taken HIM places in her time to eat hundreds of times.

"Then he held my hand and we walked to the arcade to play some video games with the other Shippo. It was fun. I played a video game where I had to dance."

Inuyasha's jaw clenched as he struggled not to explode. _HE HELD HER HAND?_ It was difficult keeping himself from jumping up and demanding explanations. Or chewing her out. Or shaking her. Or heading down to the well to go hunt this guy down and cut him into ribbons. Teeny tiny little ribbons. Itsy bitsy little pieces of…

"It sounds very sweet," Sango sighed happily, much to Inuyasha's irritation. Did the slayer HAVE to encourage her?

Jealousy threatened to overwhelm him. He felt the demon in him clawing at his gut, roaring in protest that someone was trying to take her away from him. It demanded retribution. It demanded blood. His hold on his sword barely kept him from transforming into a full demon, though he could feel it pulsing in him, trying to get out. It was something that only happened when his life was in danger. But Kagome WAS his life, and at the moment he was in very real danger of losing her.

Yes, it always caused his possessive instincts to flare up whenever Kouga showed up to make his unrealistic claims on Kagome. But Inuyasha never REALLY thought that Kagome would leave him for the wolf, regardless of the things he said to her. He didn't think that she would REALLY stay with any of those wimpy future boys either. She had promised to stay with him, and he believed her.

But that was before she had Inuyasha the Kind and Sweet, Glorious Lord of Perfection. How could a hanyou with no real home, or manners, or couth, or education, or money, or… hmmm… what _did_ he have to offer her? Inuyasha scowled.

"Do you love him?" asked Shippo.

Inuyasha leapt to his feet, nearly throwing his sword to the ground. At her startled glance his tightened his grip, then sheathed his sword before storming out of the hut. He wanted to cut things down or beat something up. Instead he settled for jumping up on the roof and moving as far away from the sound of their voices as he could, trying to tune them out. He wanted to be able to hear her voice, but not hear her words.

It screamed of cowardice, but he couldn't listen anymore. He couldn't stand to hear if she loved this other Inuyasha or not. He was… afraid. For the first time, there was the possibility that he would lose her to another male. Really and truly lose her.

After all, this other Inuyasha was kind to her. He said sweet things and did sweet things and was just… well… sweet. And that's always the kind of thing that always got her so swoony. She liked sweet. She liked romantic. She liked all the things that this other Inuyasha was. Things that HE wasn't. And the other Inuyasha was even human! He was someone that she could go out in the world with and not feel shame. Someone who wouldn't have to wear a hat to hide his ears. She wouldn't have to worry about… about their children (Inuyasha's claws dug into his arms, drawing blood, at the thought) having dog ears and being ridiculed for being monsters or freaks. She could have a nice normal life with a nice normal man.

_She likes my ears_, he reminded himself, feeling a bit pathetic for grasping at straws.

He stared out into the night, wishing he could find the answers there. Bowing his head he realized that the answers weren't there. _Being with the human… that could make her happy. _It would be noble, he supposed, if he gave her up to the human. He could bow out of her life and let her be nice and normal and happy.

_NO! _his soul roared fiercely_. No! She belongs with me! No one can protect her the way I can. No one… no one can _love_ her the way I do._

How can he make her choose HIM? How can he make her see that he will make the best mate? How can he make sure that she stays with him forever? How can he make sure that he doesn't lose her?

"I'll do anything," Inuyasha swore to the stars.

"Anything?"

Inuyasha almost fell off the roof when Kaede spoke. How had he not heard her? He let himself drop to the ground gracefully, covering up his surprise. Falling like that's what he meant to do.

"What do you want, old woman?"

"It seems," said Kaede, "That it is not me who wishes anything, Inuyasha."

"Feh."

For a moment she was quiet, and together they looked at the stars. Though five seconds of that was all Inuyasha could take before becoming jittery.

"Spit it out already, old woman."

"You would do well to learn patience, Inuyasha." Her expression was scolding, but soon changed into something softer. "Would you become human, Inuyasha? If it meant that you could live in Kagome's time and be with her always?" Kaede looked back out at the stars serenely as she asked her question.

Inuyasha glowered his most menacing glare. "It ain't possible, old woman, so it's stupid to talk about it."

"Aye. But if it was possible?"

_Was it possible?_ Looking into the hut he saw Kagome setting up her bedding. Her cheeks were still pink from blushing over Sango and Miroku's comments about the date. His eyes made contact with hers and she gave him a smile that made his heart skip a couple beats.

"She likes me the way I am."

"That she does." Kaede was silent for another moment. "Would a life with her be possible on her side of the well if you stay as you are?"

"She likes me the way I am." His claws dug into the wood of the door frame.

Kagome was setting up her bedding on the other side of the fire pit from Sango and Miroku. Near the corner where he always slept. She flashed him another smile as she scooped up Shippo in her arms and started telling him a bedtime story, Kirara sitting at her knee, listening as intently to the fairy tale about three unusually intelligent pigs and the big bad wolf.

She belonged here. With him.

"There is no doubt of that, Inuyasha. What I ask, is if you can live in her time if you remain a half demon. Or do you expect that she will give up her family and friends, her life, to live here with you? Where will you make your home?"

Inuyasha grunted his reply.

Kaede's voice got quieter, gentler. "I only wish for you to think of the future, Inuyasha. To think of what will be best for Kagome." She paused. "And for you."

With those parting words she went back into the hut.

Kagome belonged in the past, he was sure of that. _Just look at her with Shippo. Look how happy she is here. Look how happy she makes us all._ But, he knew that he couldn't give her a home here, not like she was used to. Not one with hot and cold water that ran in her house through pipes. No air conditioners to keep the house cool in the summer or heaters to keep it warm in the winter. No microwaves to make the ramen in three minutes or less. No shopping malls, movie theaters, or ice cream parlors. And her mother, brother, and grandfather. She would miss them.

He could live in her time, he supposed. It was confusing and smelly and he hated wearing those stupid hats. But… if that was the only way he could be with Kagome… Of course, there was no guarantee that the jewel could grant his wish to be human. No one had ever really tried it before. No, becoming human wasn't a good option. He couldn't protect her as well as a human.

Kagome liked him just the way that he was.

She liked both times, so she should be able to keep traveling to both times. Well, unless he was forced to destroy the well to keep her… Why couldn't they keep going back and forth through the well, anyhow? Why do they even have to make the choice at all?

_Why can't things just stay the same?_

He wondered if that wish would work on the jewel. A wish that would keep things just like this for the rest of his life. Things were perfect the way that they were. Traveling together. Spending days on end together. Talking under the stars when everyone else was asleep. Moments when he could look in her eyes and think that he sees tenderness and love. Knowing that this is where he belonged, his family. Fighting together. He smiled, even fighting with each other was fun.

But would Kagome be happy with a life like that?

_Kaede is worrying about the wrong things,_ Inuyasha decided. _ It isn't a matter of choosing WHERE. It is a matter of choosing WHO._ He would follow Kagome anywhere or anywhen as long as she chose him.

Insecurities began to battle with irritation.

_Why is she even considering this pale imitation anyhow? I protect her! I take care of her! She promised to stay by MY side!_ Fire began to consume him. _How dare that human try to take her away from me! From ME! _

Besides, he had a connection with Kagome that no one else in the world had. He was connected to her through the well. It was no quirk of fate that brought her to him, it was supposed to happen. She was supposed to find him. The well only let the two of them through. It didn't send him to the future or take her to the past, it transported them to _each other._

Of course, they were connected by magic in more ways than one. They were also connected through the rosary around his neck. He touched the beads around his neck. It might be a connection he hated at times, and was maybe a bit painful when he really ticked her off, but it was still a connection.

They were bound together.

Okay, sure, the formal words were never actually spoken, but it was always understood that she belonged to him. And, he admitted to himself, that he belonged to her as well. Everyone knew that. Everyone! It was _understood_ that they were mates, or that would be when the time was right. They were promised to each other… sort of. She promised to stay with him for as long as he would let her, and he promised to always protect her. That meant that they were promised to each other for always. So this human was _WAY_ out of line attempting to court his mate. He had every right to defend what was his!

Just as Inuyasha worked himself up into a nice white hot rage his ears picked up the sound of Kagome letting out a contented sigh as she fell asleep. He peeked back in and saw her snuggle into her sleeping bag. She looked happy, and it was awfully hard to keep his rage fired up when she looked so peaceful.

Like she was exactly where she wanted to be.

Quietly he snuck into the hut and crouched beside her, letting her scent wrap him in a blanket of peace. Her eyes were closed, but by her breathing he could tell that she wasn't asleep yet. For a moment he remembered what it was like when she woke up in his arms earlier that day. It felt right. He couldn't lose her. It would kill him.

"Oi," he said quietly as he nudged her leg, trying to not wake the kit who was just starting to drift into deep sleep beside her.

Her eyes fluttered open sleepily. "Hey."

He wanted to ask her to go for a walk with him. He wanted to talk with her. He wanted to make her understand that she couldn't leave him. He wanted…

"…Kagome…"

She sat up slowly. "Yes?"

Inuyasha blinked. Yes? For one confusing moment he thought that he had been talking out loud, that she had consented to be his. Officially. Of course, once he realized she was just asking what he wanted, he felt a little deflated.

"Do you want something?" she asked as she quietly unzipped her sleeping bag and began to sit up.

_Yes_. He wanted so many things right then that he couldn't figure out the how to say any of them. He opened his mouth, but snapped it shut quickly. This was too important. Messing this up was NOT an option. He couldn't take the chance of saying the wrong thing. He needed time to find the right words. Words that would tell her everything he needed to say. The ones that would keep her with him always. Blurting out stuff was bound to get him in trouble. It always did.

Should he ask for Miroku's help? Nah, can't trust a thing that lecher says when it comes to females. Shippo was just a kid. A sharp kid, but still just a kid. Maybe Sango. Hmm… maybe not. She was sure to tell him to talk to her all syrupy sweet like that OTHER Inuyasha, plus she would squeal to Kagome and ruin the surprise before he got to say anything. There was also the fact that they were nosy and were sure to spy on them the whole time if they knew. Kagome's mom always had good advice, but it was unlikely she would help him convince her daughter to stay in the past with him.

"Inuyasha?"

A warm hand touched his forehead and his eyes closed. Inhaling deeply he tried to drown himself in her scent. The hand moved to his cheek.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

"Keh," he said in response, reluctantly opening his eyes. "I'm not some weak human, I'm fine."

With a pounding heart, he slowly reached up and covered her hand with his, trapping it against his cheek. When he gathered his courage he looked her in the eyes. His heart did a little flip flop when he saw how her eyes had softened. Her smile was gentle and sweet. And she didn't try to move her hand from his.

He couldn't think of a single thing to say. All he could do was feel.

Tomorrow he would find the words. If it killed him (or worse, humiliate him) he would find the words. He just needed a little bit more time. Actually, he had kinda hoped that she would just KNOW so he wouldn't have to tell her, but that hadn't been working for him so far. It was painful doing this the human way. Why did they have to rely so much on words anyhow? Didn't they have any instinct at all?

"Go to sleep, Kagome."

Tomorrow was going to be one of the hardest days of his life.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Notes:

Thank you for the reviews! Some of you guys are good guessers. Interesting that so many people mentioned _The Twilight Zone._ I loved that show! I'm always wondering 'what if". Plus, haven't you ever just wondered what it would be like to find out you were just someone's imagination?

I'd like to give you answers, but them I'm afraid it would ruin the chapters ahead. Hopefully all the questions will be answered by the end of the story. Six more chapters to go!


	10. Come Back To Me

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Ten: Come Back To Me

Her dreams were sweet and beautiful, full of joy and laughter. There may have even been a fluffy bunny or two in there somewhere.

For the first time in a long time (too long), she wasn't plagued with nightmares and confusion or doubts of her sanity. Maybe it had something to do with how Inuyasha held her hand to his cheek for before she went to sleep. Maybe it was how his eyes had warmed to a bone melting honey gold. Or maybe it was how his voice had been so soft and gentle, the voice he sometimes used only for her, and usually only when no one else was around.

Something was changing, she could feel it.

Warmth filled her as she felt something brush across her forehead. Her cheeks turned rosy when the butterfly light touch came back, and she realized that it was a kiss.

_Well now, here a problem,_ Kagome thought to herself as she struggled to stay still and keep her traitorous cheeks from giving her away_. Do I try to pretend I'm asleep so he doesn't stop? Or do I wake up and run the risk of running him off? But what if he doesn't run off…_

What if this was the moment when her whole life changed? Did she really want to miss it because she was afraid to open her eyes?

When the lips did not stray far, she decided that she was probably safe to wake up. He probably knew she was awake anyhow, drat his super sensitive senses. If she tried to fake sleep for too long it might make things awkward and weird. And the last thing she wanted was a weirded out hanyou just when things started looking up. Then again… what if it wasn't Inuyasha?

Her eyes flew open!

Whew.

Her heart rate returned to normal when she saw that it _was_ Inuyasha. Then it started to speed up again when she realized that Inuyasha had been kissing her. HER! Kagome Higurashi! His mouth on her skin (forehead counts)! Inuyasha kissed her!

"Inuyasha…" She would have been mortified that her voice only came out as a squeak if her brain were still functioning.

Excruciatingly slowly he reached down and touched her face before feathering another kiss on the tip of her nose. Kagome timidly brushed the hair out of his eyes as he grinned down at her.

His dark hair.

At first Kagome thought it was just a trick of the light, or lack of light really. But no, his eyes were no longer gold and his hair was black. No claws or fangs either. Quickly she looked up at the sky, scared that she accidentally fell asleep on his human night and left him to stay awake alone contemplating all those things that made him depressed and feeling weak. Not to mention crabby.

No… there was still plenty of moon left.

She was almost afraid to look around at her surroundings. Was she back in the other world? The crackling of a fire and a soft snore prompted her to look around. Shippo was still sleeping beside her. She could see Miroku and Sango sleeping on the other side of the dying fire.

"Inuyasha?"

"Come back to me," he whispered.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Yesterday he was still sitting with his back against Kagome's door, contemplating his existence. Why does he exist? HOW does he exist?

Yesterday he found out that he was just a dream. Kagome's dream, but still just a dream. Maybe even just a figment of her imagination.

Yesterday his whole world crumbled into dust as he realized that everything he thought that he knew was just some sort of illusion.

Yesterday pretty much sucked.

Well, the date with Kagome was nice, but everything after that left a lot to be desired. He smiled at the memory of the date. His heart warmed as he remembered how her hand felt in his. He remembered how it felt like he was tied in knots, and how it was the best day of his life. Until the whole finding out he wasn't real thing, of course.

In fact, it looked like the only thing in his life that was real was Kagome.

He loved her. There was no doubt about it. His feelings for her were all consuming. He loved her with his entire heart. His entire being. She was his whole world. Giving her up just wasn't an option.

Okay, so now he had to figure out a way to keep her. Should he even tell her that he's just a dream? Would she care? Would she think he was crazy? Or that she was? _But_, he thought, _I am so much more than a dream._ He had emotions. He could feel. And somehow, when he felt his soul ripped out of him when Kagome was stolen down the well by the dog demon, he was able to follow her.

Though perhaps it wasn't that he followed her exactly, at least not physically. After all, once she disappeared, so did his whole world, leaving him in a kind of hollow darkness. But… when she was gone (or he was gone, depending on how that whole thing worked) he could still feel her. He followed the feeling, growing stronger and more substantial the closer he got to her. When he saw her sleeping he was able to step out of the darkness and into… well… more darkness. But it was a different kind of darkness. This darkness was simply the middle of the night, not nothingness.

When she opened her eyes and looked at him he could see the love in her eyes, and he couldn't imagine feeling more alive.

_I can find a way to be with her. I have to. Perhaps,_ he thought,_ if I sweep her off her feet she will forget about the demon._ Kagome was, after all, a hopeless romantic. Maybe there was a way he could romance her. Besides, should someone as sweet as Kagome really be with a demon? Even if it was a half demon. Besides, she was always in danger when she was with him.

"Inuyasha…" he heard her whisper his name and his heart soared.

He couldn't help it, he had to kiss her again. So he kissed the tip of her nose. He didn't want to scare her or rush her into anything. Actually, he hadn't really meant to wake her with a kiss, though it was rather like a fairytale. But he saw her and he couldn't help himself. It was entirely possible that he just may burst with the love and affection inside of him. When he thought he was human he had wanted, needed, to be with Kagome. Now that need grew, turning almost frantic.

Her fingertips grazed his face, leaving a trail of fire sizzling beneath his skin as she brushed the hair out of his face. Then she frowned slightly, and Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat.

Eyes traveled over his face, looking closely at his eyes and hair, even his hands and feet. Then she looked up towards the night sky. Her confusion seemed to mount, and Inuyasha began to panic.

She was figuring it out.

All of her other friends were sleeping, though luckily there was no sign of the silver haired demon. His fear mounted with each passing moment as she looked around the camp at her friends and then back at him. He was losing her.

"Inuyasha?"

"Come back to me," he pleaded.

He took her hands in his and lifted her to her feet. Before she could say a word to protest, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. There was no way he could possibly let her go. There just wasn't.

"How…?"

Crushing her lips under his own in a desperate kiss, Inuyasha stopped her question and evidently froze her in place. He didn't know why he was here, or even how it was possible. All he knew was that he WAS here with her. He also knew that he needed her more than anyone else. He loved her. He had to keep her. And there was nothing that could take her away from him.

He closed his eyes and held her tight, allowing himself to melt into her.

One moment he was losing himself in the feeling of Kagome, the next he was upside down after crash landing into a tree as he heard his true love scream his name. The feral growling should have been his first clue that something was amiss. If not, then surely the snarl of rage. But he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. Now he found himself with claw marks on his arm, blood down his arm, and quite possibly a broken bone or two.

Inuyasha looked up into flashing gold eyes and some very sharp fangs currently bared at him. So this was the _other_ Inuyasha…

Demon or not, he wasn't getting Kagome.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Note: Ah, the two meet at last (as several people guessed would happen). So now we have to ask ourselves, do they fight or do they talk and work things out like reasonable people?

…

…

…

Yeah, 'reasonable' has always defined Inuyasha. (Insert sarcasm here) Does anyone else hear a little voice chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" ?


	11. Inuyasha versus Inuyasha

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me. And here's a bit of fair warning, with two Inuyashas… things may get a bit confusing. When there is a change of point of view (and there will be lots) I will try to make it clear at the beginning of the sentence which one we're focusing on. I tried to be as clear as I could and still keep the story going smoothly.

Chapter: Eleven: Inuyasha versus Inuyasha

Kagome watched in shock as the very human Inuyasha was standing up after being thrown into a tree by the very enraged hanyou Inuyasha.

How the heck was that possible?

How can they be in the same place?

How was it possible that the HUMAN Inuyasha seemed to be healing so quickly?

She watched as the wounds on his arm just disappeared. Not that the wound was healing slowly with the skin knitting back together like what happens with her hanyou, but actually **disappearing**! He seemed just as shocked as she was. Then she saw him smile slowly, one that could be classified as wicked if it were possible for her sweet, if not occasionally temperamental, friend could even be wicked.

Inuyasha, her dog eared Inuyasha, froze in mid attack when he noticed the unusual healing. Landing gracefully near Kagome, he sniffed.

"What are you?" the hanyou demanded, moving closer to Kagome protectively.

"I'm Inuyasha," the human said with a confident smile. "And Kagome is coming back home with me."

The hanyou was creative in his colorful (though not terribly original) response, that caused Kagome to blush, as he suggested the human do things that weren't humanly possible. He left no shadow of a doubt in anyone's mind about what he thought about THAT particular idea. Nope, it was highly unlikely that he was about to let some human take off her. Well... sort of a human...

"You aren't human," Inuyasha growled as he kept himself planted firmly in front of the curious and confused miko, "You have no scent."

"No scent?" echoed Kagome, who finally found her voice.

The human cringed, cursing the tattletale. This wasn't the way he had planned on telling Kagome about what he had figured out. Well, to be honest, he wasn't really sure that he had planned on telling her at all. He stepped to the side so that he could get a better look at his friend, but the demon was one big red movable wall. Every step that he took, the demon blocked.

"What's going on?" asked a small, tired voice.

"It appears, Shippo," …yawn… "That Inuyasha has found… himself."

"Shut up, Miroku!" growled the dog demon. "This _human_ was trying to steal Kagome."

The demon slayer jumped to her feet and quickly picked up her weapon, all traces of sleep vanished. The monk's countenance went from amused to carefully blank. The kit was wailing in panic as Kirara stood on his tail to keep him from leaping blindly into the fray to get to Kagome.

"Protect her." The miko was shoved in their direction as Inuyasha focused all of his attention onto the interloper.

Quick as lightening, Inuyasha leapt at the human, raking his claws across the human's middle. He ignored Kagome's scream, but was glad she didn't 'sit' him. His ears pinned back as he glanced in her direction warily. Would she interfere in this fight like she always did with Kouga? Would she protect this… this… _imitation_?

Kagome shrieked again, but this time it was because the human was suddenly healed once more. There wasn't even a tear in the shirt he was wearing! Definitely not a human. Inuyasha sniffed again. But he wasn't a demon either. So, what was he? Not one to give up easily, the hanyou leapt once more, but this time his claws went straight through his body.

Not tearing through it or making a hole. His hand went through the body as if it was mist. Or a ghost. Inuyasha crouched down and looked up to see a human version of himself sporting a very cocky smirk.

"What's the matter, demon?"

Inuyasha looked down at the demon crouching near him and felt an unbelievable sense of power. The demon couldn't touch him!

"Leave Kagome alone," the dog demon growled.

Inuyasha chuckled. "Sorry, pooch, but I can't do that. I'm taking Kagome home with me. So be a good boy and just play dead."

The human walked through the enraged hanyou. As completely surreal as the whole experience had been for him, he just wanted to take Kagome home and get back to real life. Well, as real as life got for him at least. The first thing he planned to do was destroy the stupid well. Then he had to figure out exactly how his whole existence worked so that he could find a way to keep Kagome with him all the time. With luck she wouldn't even remember this place or these people. They would just be some barely remembered dream. And THIS time he wouldn't let anyone talk about dreams at all! He would find a way to keep her so busy she won't have time to think about these dreams.

He would find a way to make her happy. So happy that she would never want to leave him, even if she ever did find out the truth.

He'd find a way to make her love him as much as he loved her.

Kagome watched as the human Inuyasha started walking towards her. She was a bit creeped out when she saw him walk THROUGH the other Inuyasha. The human looked determined, the hanyou looked… shocked. Why wasn't he moving?

He expected to feel icy shivers down his spine when the human walked through him, but instead, he felt nothing. Nothing at all. The lack of smell still bothered him more than a lack of substance. Looking down at his claws he swore under his breath. Was this thing a ghost? Nothing seemed to be able to touch him. But… he had touched Kagome…. For a moment his vision turned hazy and crimson, but he shook it away.

The human had touched her to wake her up.

Had kissed her.

KISSED HER!

It was a bit harder shaking away the red haze this time. Rage boiled his blood and his claws dug into the earth as he tried to keep himself from losing all control. It went against all of his protective instincts to let another male so close to Kagome. (Miroku and Shippo don't count, of course, since they are pack.) But he had to let the male just a little closer. He fought against the demon inside of him and against his own instincts to let the human just a little closer.

The human's arm rose. Fingers stretched towards Kagome.

Kagome wasn't sure how to feel as Inuyasha was reaching for her. Part of her brain told her that this was some kind of illusion, a dream, perhaps even a demon. But another part of her brain argued that this was her childhood friend and that she loved him and trusted him. Her body refused to move. It didn't go towards him or away from him.

His fingers were just a whisper away when suddenly he vanished.

Actually, 'vanished' is really the wrong word. What happened was that he was there one moment, then there was this red blur, then there was nothing. It wasn't really a mystery, since Kagome was well acquainted with what that red blur meant. She looked to the left (the direction the blur seemed to be heading) and saw a red clad figure slamming her childhood friend into a tree.

"INUYASHA!"

They both looked at her, which was a little disconcerting. She didn't know which one she was yelling at, or for. She felt her grasp on sanity slip just a little more when they gave her identical questioning looks.

"Don't worry," called the human cheerfully, "The demon can't hurt me." Then once more he walked through the hanyou and began walking towards Kagome.

Inuyasha ignored the snarling demon behind him and focused on his friend. He would walk straight through every one of them, take Kagome's hand, and somehow get her out of here. Would she become intangible too if he had a hold of her? How were they going to get back to wherever it was that he came from? Would going down the well help? He wiped his sweaty palms on the legs of his jeans, a bit bemused that he could even HAVE sweaty palms.

He pushed aside his questions and doubts. Perhaps he should have come up with an escape plan, but he couldn't think of anything else besides getting to Kagome. Once they were together they would figure something out.

"SHIPPO!"

Inuyasha was startled with the demon behind him yelled. For the moment he couldn't remember which one of them was Shippo. But it didn't matter, the yell was a command, which meant the tricky demon was up to something. So he took off at a run towards Kagome. He called her name.

"KAGOME!"

Inuyasha snarled as he heard the human yell for the miko. The kit better get to her in time. Big green eyes blinked uncomprehendingly at him for a moment. For a few moments actually. So many long moments that Inuyasha thought that the fox demon would never get it. Telling him exactly what to do would ruin the element of surprise, but if he didn't do it soon… well… the human wouldn't be the only one who should fear for his life.

At the last moment the hanyou heard the pop and saw the large pink bubble appear and carry a squealing Kagome up to the tree tops. The kit would live another day.

"What should we do?" whispered Sango as she watched her best friend float up and land on a tree branch far above their heads.

Miroku was silent for a moment. "When the time is right, we will know." He sighed dramatically as he motioned towards the drama unfolding with one hand, causing the rings on his staff to jangle. "But for right now we watch, and we help Shippo keep Kagome away from the Inuyasha of her dreams."

A silver ear twitched, as well as a tick in his forehead. "DON'T CALL HIM THAT!"

"Do you forget about his hearing or do you just like to provoke him?"

Miroku grinned his answer at Sango, his free hand slipping lower as the jangling rings distracted the slayer.

"You PERVERT!"

Why oh why did he ever let Kagome talk him into letting those two tag along anyhow? Why couldn't he have just told her no? And whose side were they on in all this anyhow? Did they WANT Kagome to go with this THING? Unsheathing his sword, he decided that it was time to end all this.

"A sword?"

Inuyasha looked at the demon holding the sword. How did the sword get so big? Oh yeah, magic. He almost scoffed at the idea when he remembered his own predicament. He shrugged, okay, so it was magic. He was finally a believer. Kagome would probably be amused, and gloating.

The demon yelled some phrase and swung the sword. Kagome screamed his name from the tree tops. Blades of … was that wind?... went right threw him. It kinda tingled. He looked up into the trees and waved at Kagome to let her know that he was just fine. It was a little surprising to see the same sword swing straight through his waving arm. Surprising and more than a little unnerving. But a little cool at the same time. It was beginning to feel more like a superpower than anything else.

The demon cursed some more. It was interesting that his sweet Kagome would purposely hang out with such a foul mouthed creature. How could she have ever have accused HIM of having a potty mouth when she hung out with THAT demon?

"Problems?" Inuyasha asked the fuming demon.

Inuyasha was beyond rage. Nothing was working on this puny ghost of a human. Claws and his sword went right through him. Even the wind scar hadn't had any effect on him. Maybe Miroku or Kaede would have some ideas, knew of some sort of spell, but he couldn't risk leaving Kagome alone with that… that THING!

Sniff. Sniff. _Oh great, now she's crying,_ Inuyasha grumbled. How was he going to be able to concentrate on killing this thing if she cried over him? It. _It's not human. _How could she get worked up over some THING that wasn't even alive. Just because it LOOKED alive didn't mean it WAS alive, even if it did look and sounded like someone you knew. Surely she knew the difference. Didn't she?

The stupid human called up some promise to Kagome about keeping her safe. Which really was stupid. No one kept her safer than him. And it was really _really_ stupid to think that she needed to be kept safe FROM him!

"Just SHUT UP!" he screamed as he plunged his sword into the human's chest, pinning him (rather ironically) to the tree.

But the human just looked at it. Then he smiled a little. Inuyasha jerked back when he saw the other's hand hover over his own. He could feel his skin crawl when the hand began to slowly solidify. As the human grabbed his sword he raked his claws through his belly again. But no luck, only the hand was solid.

And he had the sword.

Inuyasha couldn't believe it. He was holding the demon's sword. Okay, it was also nearly beyond belief that he was holding the sword while it was sticking out of his body. Somehow he was able to make only part of his body solid. This just got better and better.

He pulled the sword out of the tree and gave it an experimental swing. The demon's jaw had dropped open. Unfortunately, the sword he held in his hand looked rather… lame. It wasn't nearly as formidable and majestic looking in his hands. It looked horribly beaten up and rather old.

With one swing of the sword he slashed at the demon, who hadn't moved. There was a line of blood on his arm where the sword sliced him.

"Things just got interesting," he said as he raised the sword.

Inuyasha couldn't believe it. He was holding HIS sword! How was that possible? And he CUT him! Things didn't get interesting, they just got more complicated. Not only was this thing armed, but it seemed that the sword could be solid or as intangible as the human was. Luckily the human was the worst swordsman he had ever seen.

Ever.

He had only drawn blood because Inuyasha had been so shocked at seeing him grab the sword that he hadn't moved. With a smirk he reached up and soaked his claws in the blood that was beginning to drip from the shallow wound.

"BLADES OF BLOOD!"

Of course the attack didn't hit. The human went into ghost mode again. It was very irritating. What was more irritating was how quietly Sango and Miroku were talking to each other while watching on the sidelines. It was like they were watching a show on television like Kagome's family would sometimes do. He told himself that it was because they had complete faith in his ability to win. But a small voice inside of him asked if they were even sure who they WANTED to win.

And what about Kagome?

He spared her a glance, easily dodging another blow by the human. Who did she hope would win? She kept calling his name. But… _which_ Inuyasha was she calling? And why was she climbing down the tree? What was wrong with Shippo? He shouldn't be letting her come down the tree! It was too dangerous! This moron was swinging like a wild man, no aim. Sure it wouldn't harm him if the sword made contact. But what if he accidently hit Kagome?

Inuyasha swung the sword again. The hunk of metal was a lot heavier than it looked. His arms were tired. How could they be tired? If he didn't really have arms, then how could they get so tired? Could he will them to feel better like he could will himself solid? There wasn't really time to try. If he quit swinging, then the demon would try to get his sword back.

"Just let us GO!" he yelled as he swung once more. This demon had other friends, why couldn't he just let him have Kagome?

His heart nearly burst as he made contact with something solid. He saw the blood running down the demon's hands and felt sick. He hadn't meant to kill anyone, or hurt anyone. He just wanted to take Kagome home.

The fear that he had mortally wounded the demon disappeared with the demon smirked. He had grabbed a hold of the sword!

"STOP!" screamed Kagome. Neither Inuyasha looked in her direction.

Inuyasha concentrated on making the sword intangible again before the demon could jerk it out of his hands. He had to end this.

Jumping back he took all his aches and pains, all his feelings of being tired and sore, and pushed them out of his head. Out of his body. Taking a deep breath he tried to imagine gathering strength, and was pleased when he could feel it filling his body. He changed the grip on the sword.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" he yelled as he closed his eyes and focused all of his energy on the sword, nearly making it glow with power. This was the hit that would count. He was certain of it.

He opened his eyes just in time to see Kagome as she threw herself in front of the demon with her arms outstretched wide.

It was too late to stop the momentum.

The demon screamed Kagome's name, wrapping his arms around her as if he were going to take off with her, as the sword plunged through them both. Inuyasha dropped to his knees and grabbed his stomach, letting out a sob. It was over. He lost her. He killed her. He killed the woman he loved more than life itself. It didn't matter if he disappeared or his unusual existence ceased. Without Kagome... without Kagome it just didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

"Oh my gracious," a quiet voice on the edge of the clearing said. "This did not go at all as I had planned."

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know, you all hate me. "Evil" might possibly be my middle name. Just remember that the story isn't quite over yet.


	12. Broken Wish

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Twelve: A Broken Wish

"Oh my gracious," a quiet voice on the edge of the clearing twittered. "This did not go at all as I had planned."

"Oh, gods!" Inuyasha cried in anguish. "I killed her!"

The young didn't care if anyone saw his tears or heard the hiccupping sobs that he couldn't control. What did anything matter now that he murdered the woman he loved. Despair made him physically sick and threatened to overwhelm him when he heard an incredulous voice speak up from several yards away.

"I can't believe I'm not dead!"

"Of course you aren't, stupid. Do you think I'd let some wimpy human kill you?"

"But the sword went right through me!"

A shocked demon slayer, monk, fox kit and fire cat watched with interest as the sound of Kagome's voice finally broke through to the human Inuyasha. He wiped his eyes with the tail of his shirt and choked a little, then whispered her name hoarsely.

"Kagome…"

Sango went to put her hand on his arm to help him up, but her hand went through him. It was an odd feeling. Or lack of feeling. Actually, it was very creepy. And it is pretty tough to creep out a demon slayer. She took a couple of steps back.

"But… I… I killed her…"

"No, you didn't," she assured him.

"But the sword…"

Sango would have liked to shake him until he stopped sounding so bewildered. But she wasn't able to get a grip on him, so she would just have to be patient instead. All she could do was try to explain to him what she saw.

"The sword DID go through them." The slayer narrowed her eyes as she glared at him and clenched her fists tightly in an effort to control her temper. After all, she had just seen this man skewer her best friend. "And yes, the sword looked solid. But when you saw Kagome something happened and the sword became intangible as well. Maybe you lost concentration. Maybe instinct kept you from hurting her. I don't know for sure. Then Inuyasha… our Inuyasha… grabbed Kagome and took her to safety."

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"It's just a scratch, Inuyasha."

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

"Calm down! It's just a tiny little scratch."

"SHIPPO, BRING KAGOME'S FIRST AID KIT! **NOW!**"

"Stop yelling! And get your hands off my skirt!"

That got everyone's attention. At the silence that fell on the camp, Inuyasha and Kagome realized everyone was looking at them with eyebrows raised. Instead of dropping the hem of Kagome's skirt (honestly… he was JUST trying to look at the wound), the blushing hanyou moved in front of her to block everyone's view as he inspected the gash on her upper thigh.

He would have moved quicker if Kagome's actions hadn't startled him. _When would the girl learn that a sword through the belly wouldn't kill HIM? _It was unthinkable that she would put her life at risk just for his. That she would shed… blood… for him. He shook his head fiercely. When the human let go of the sword it had become solid once more. And though the hanyou was fast, he wasn't quite fast enough to prevent him from drawing her blood.

_HER_ blood.

On _HIS_ sword.

Inuyasha cringed at the thought. It made him sick. He wondered if how he would ever be able to look at the sword again without seeing her blood staining the edge. Would he ever be able to close his eyes again and not see his sword plunged through her belly? If he had even been a moment slower… His ears flattened against his skull, nearly disappearing in his silver hair as he tried to dispel that thought. He would have spent more time wallowing in self pity if he hadn't noticed that everyone was trying to see what he was doing with Kagome's skirt.

"YOU'RE ALL A BUNCHA PERVERTS!"

"Hey, Inuyasha…" Shippo bounded over with the first aid kit.

The dog demon hastily grabbed the kit and ripped it open in desperate search of gauze, tape, and every type of ointment she carried. "What do you want, brat? I'm busy."

"Who is that old lady staring at us?"

All eyes slowly turned towards from Kagome and Inuyasha to the elderly lady standing at the edge of the clearing, looking terribly disturbed.

"No," the woman fretted to herself, "This was not how it was supposed to go at all."

Both Inuyashas jumped to their feet and placed themselves between Kagome and the elderly woman. She may have looked harmless, but one never knew for sure.

"Who are you?" they demanded in unison (though the hanyou added a rude expletive in there and a threatening motion). Neither one of them touched the sword still embedded in the tree.

"I am Kuusouka."

Everyone waited for further explanation.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"Who the…"

"Hello, Kuusouka." Kagome interrupted the hanyou before he could insult the elderly woman again. She gave her a bright smile despite the slight pain in her leg. "It is nice to meet you. We were just wondering who you are and if you know anything about what is going on."

"I am the weaver of dreams." She smiled at Kagome warmly. "And I was returning a kindness that you once showed me."

"Uh…" The young miko couldn't place where she had seen the woman before no matter how hard she tried. "Really?"

"I repaid your kindness by granting the wish you made so long ago." The woman looked at the human and hanyou Inuyashas and frowned. "But this did not turn out the way it was supposed to. Something has gone frightfully amiss."

"My wish?" Kagome looked at both Inuyashas, confused. The human looked sheepish, and the hanyou was glaring at her. "What wish?"

"May an old woman sit by the fire?"

Flustered at her lack of manners, Kagome quickly cleared off a place for the weaver of dreams to sit. She sat across the fire from her. Sango sat nearest to the dream weaver with Kirara on her lap in case it was a trap. Her weapon was close at hand in case she needed it. Miroku sat next to Sango because… well, because that was his favorite place to be. Shippo sat in Kagome's lap while the human Inuyasha took the seat next to her. The hanyou stood protectively behind his miko with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well?" prompted Inuyasha brusquely. "Get on with it."

The woman wrinkled her nose at the rude dog demon and gave Kagome a curious look. "This is the one you chose?" She looked again. "Are you _certain_?"

Kagome blushed as everyone waited for her answer. "Um…"

Kuusouka closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as if rubbing away a headache. "Your wish was to stay with the hanyou, was it not?"

The blush darkened. "Um… well… yes…"

"Do you love him?"

"ACK!" Kagome bolted from her seat, sending poor Shippo flying into Miroku, and scrambled a few feet back. Ironically she ran right into the hanyou's red clad legs. "What does THAT have to do with anything?"

"If we are to find out what has gone wrong with the wish, we need honest answers." The weaver's voice was slightly irritable. "Do you love him?"

Of all the many ways that Kagome had thought about declaring her love to the man behind her, this wasn't one of them. Every single pair of eyes was staring right at her. Including the human Inuyasha. His gaze hurt the most. His eyes pleaded with her. Kagome closed her eyes and clutched a hand to her chest. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. But she couldn't lie, not when they needed the truth so badly. Besides, he probably already knew it. Everyone else did, didn't they?

"Yes."

There was a loud whoosh of air behind her. The corner of her mouth twitched as she got a whiff of beef ramen. When she felt a slightly trembling hand on her shoulder she opened her eyes. However, she wasn't quite brave enough to turn around and face him.

"And did you not wish for him to become human for you?"

"What?" the miko gasped.

The hand on her shoulder tightened in reflex, then fell away.

"Kagome…" his voice sounded broken.

Quickly Kagome jumped to her feet and spun around to face him. "No! Never! I've never wished that, Inuyasha. NEVER!"

Had she? Surely not. She loved him the way that he was. He wouldn't be Inuyasha if he was anything else. Or could some small secret place in her heart have wished it? Sure, it was nice getting to go to school with Inuyasha and having him a part of her life all the time, but there was no way she would wish something like that on him. He would be miserable. Besides, his fuzzy ears were too darn cute to want rid of them.

The woman was wrong.

The hanyou turned his head from her, letting his bangs cover his eyes so she wouldn't see how badly she wounded him. Although her grip on his sleeve kept him from jumping away, he refused to look at her. He could feel his heart actually breaking. And it hurt. It hurt more than the arrow that had once pinned him to the tree.

"How could you, Kagome?" He tugged his sleeve away. "I thought… Kagome… I thought you…" Unable to finish the sentence, he started walking away. He only paused when he heard the old woman speak again.

"Kagome?" the dream weaver said curiously.

"You are wrong! I never once wished Inuyasha human, Kuusouka," she denied vehemently, knowing in her heart that it was honestly true. "He is perfect the way that he is. I wouldn't change him for anything." She darted forward to grab onto his sleeve again, jumping in front of him to halt his progress. "I would never wish that, you idiot!"

"What a touching declaration of love," murmured Miroku to Sango, who nodded with a gentle snicker. Kirara mewed in reply. "She has a way with such sweet words. It is no wonder she has won so many hearts."

"Kagome?" Kuusouka said again.

"What?" snapped the miko as she braced herself to make sure that Inuyasha didn't move a single inch until he got it through his thick head that the woman was lying.

"But…I do not understand. You are Kikyo, are you not?"

"Kikyo?" echoed Inuyasha and Kagome in unison.

Shippo hopped up onto Sango's shoulder and munched on a stick of strawberry pocky he found in Kagome's backpack while people were arguing. The great thing about all this fighting was that it left the snack stash completely unguarded.

"This," he laughed with a full mouth, "is going to be interesting."

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Disclaimer Part II: The character Kuusouka is mine. Actually, she is the first made up character I've made for a fanfiction.

Author's Notes:

Thank you for your great reviews! I really appreciate them. You guys had such great ideas of what might have happened that I was very tempted to use them. However, I'm sticking with my game plan.

Nexa dubbed me Touch of Evil Pixie Dust... I kinda like it. Bwa ha haaaa...

Next chapter: Decisions, Decisions


	13. Decisions Decisions

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story (and Kuusouka) belongs to me.

Chapter Thirteen: Decisions Decisions

"Can't we just shake it out of her?"

"No, Inuyasha." Kagome sighed heavily. "And don't ask again. No shaking, no head bopping, no slashing, no clawing, no gutting, no biting, no threatening. Just be patient. Hand me that bowl please."

"Keh. Shippo is the one who suggested biting, not me."

"Bowl, please."

The dog demon handed her the bowl for her to rinse out in the stream. "She's been here all day and ain't said nuthin' about why she thought you were Ki… uh… someone else."

"She said she was hungry and just needed a short rest."

"But she's eating all my ramen!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It's not like we don't have enough to share." She stopped washing for a moment. "I'm not sure why there was so much in my pack this time, anyhow. Maybe Mom thought I was going to be gone longer this time or something when she packed it."

Inuyasha suddenly found the clouds very interesting.

After setting the bowls upside down to dry, Kagome stood up and stretched. "Well, she should be nice and full now. We'll go ask again."

"She's sleeping."

Kagome blinked in surprise. "How can you tell?"

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I can hear her snoring from here."

Laughing softly, Kagome sat back down. She pulled off her shoes and socks and dipped her feet in the cool water. Sure she was curious about what the dream weaver was going to say, but she was also not looking forward to listening to any story that involved Kikyo. Things would likely end up weird between her and Inuyasha for the next few days. She leaned her head back to stare at the sky, but found herself looking into golden eyes instead of a golden sun.

"She was granting your wish, huh?"

Kagome lifted one leg quickly and flung cold water at the hanyou with her foot. "I already told you that it wasn't MY wish, dummy."

"What would you wish?"

Kagome and the dog demon turned to see a very serious looking human Inuyasha leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Talking to me, now are you?"

Inuyasha pushed away from the tree, glaring at the dog demon, and walked to Kagome. She sat up and turned towards him, but left her feet in the water. He took off his shoes and socks and sat beside her, ignoring the hanyou's growls of warning. After rolling up his pants legs, he put his feet in the water as well.

"I was having a bit of a nervous break down there, Kags. I thought I killed you."

"You didn't."

"He almost did." Pause. "Kags?"

Kagome sighed and gave the hanyou a warning look. "You're not helping, Inuyasha."

"I thought I killed you. I was so shocked that you were alive that I couldn't think. Couldn't speak. I'm sorry, Kagome."

"It's okay, Inuyasha."

"Okay? He tried to KILL me!"

"Well, it wasn't okay to try and kill Inuyasha." She scolded her friend as she splashed him. "You're going to have to apologize for that."

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha said without a trace of sincerity.

"Feh. Sorry you didn't kill me," grumbled the hanyou loudly. He didn't miss the human's smirk.

"I can see why you liked this place," said the Inuyasha sitting next to her, not the one standing behind her cracking his knuckles. "It smells nice with all this fresh air. And it's relatively quiet, regardless of the snarling animal sounds. It feels strange not hearing traffic. I can see how you would like the adventure of traveling, and even battling demons." He raised an eyebrow after glancing at the hanyou. "Though I do have to question your taste in companions."

Kagome pulled her feet out of the water. Really, what were the chances that two Inuyashas were going to get along anyhow? She stood up and gave her hand to the human Inuyasha to help him up, ignoring the snarling behind her. But when Inuyasha was on his feet he didn't let go of her hand.

"What would your wish be?" he asked again.

Kagome looked into the eyes of the childhood friend that she remembered, even though it looked like those memories were false. Then she looked at her other friend, whose eyes were hard and cold as topaz as he looked at their still joined hands. He grabbed her other hand and tugged her towards him and away from the human. For a moment she thought that he was going to hug her, but he yanked her behind him to hide her from view.

"The hag is awake." He kept a hold of Kagome's hand, turned abruptly, and pulled her along behind him.

The dark haired Inuyasha glared at the hanyou who was practically abducting the love of his life. Quickly he scooped up Kagome's forgotten shoes and socks and carried them back to camp. He dropped them a couple times along the way when he wasn't concentrating on holding them. He could see how being intangible could be a problem. Here, in this world, he had to concentrate on something for it to be solid. It would seem that if he wanted something to become intangible as well, such as the sword that was stuck in the tree, then he would have to concentrate on that, too.

Kuusouka was smiling kindly at the young miko who was climbing off of the hanyou's back. It hadn't taken long on their short walk for him to realize she was barefoot, so he had tossed her onto his back, holding onto her legs a little tighter than usual.

"Kagome?"

"Yes."

The woman tsk tsked. "So very strange. Are you sure that you are not the priestess Kikyo? You look just like her."

"Blind old bat," grumbled the hanyou as set Kagome onto a fallen log as far away from the others as possible and sat beside her on her right.

"But there is something else. Something else that reminds me so strongly of Kikyo."

"I'm her reincarnation." Kagome said through gritted teeth. She sighed and tried not to slump in her seat as she grumbled in a very Inuyasha (the hanyou) like way. She was proud of herself that she didn't add the extra expletives that she was thinking. Inuyasha was definitely rubbing off on her.

Kuusouka clapped her hands and laughed cheerfully. "THAT is why! Oh, I knew it had to be something like that. It is not often that I make a mistake like that. Oh dear, that does put my mind to rest." The smile slowly turned into a confused frown. "Though I do not understand how it is possible. Kikyo is not yet dead."

Shippo snickered. Miroku and Sango gave Inuyasha and Kagome a cautious glance. Kirara mewed and hid under Sango's arm. Kagome pressed her lips together tightly. The hanyou beside her looked uncomfortable.

"Actually," said a smug human Inuyasha as he walked into the clearing with Kagome's shoes and socks. "She _IS_ dead."

"I saw her only two days past…"

Inuyasha smirked at the hanyou as handed Kagome her things. "She's been dead a whole lot longer than that. Hasn't she?"

"Inuyasha!" hissed Kagome quietly.

Then hanyou glared at the human, claws flexing. "Over fifty years," he finally said. "Kikyo has been dead for over fifty years."

"How is that possible? I have seen her with my own eyes."

Inuyasha plopped next to Kagome, leaning his dark head close to her shoulder. He looked behind her back at the hanyou and gave him a wide grin. "You want to answer that one too?"

"Just shut up!" snarled the dog demon. The human's smile only enraged him further.

"Kikyo lives on the souls of dead girls," Inuyasha said when he realized that the hanyou was too busy fuming to answer. "The first soul she stole was Kagome's. Well, part of it anyhow." He smiled gently at his friend. "Right?"

"Yeah," said Kagome as she squirmed, just as uncomfortable with the topic as the dog demon. "That's about right."

Kuusouka clapped again. "Another very good reason for the slight confusion. Oh my! I am quite relieved that there is a logical explanation to all of this." She sniffed dramatically. "What is that delicious smell?"

Shippo gulped and hid the chocolate pocky he had just opened behind his back.

"So now we know why you were… confused," said Miroku as he tried to steer to conversation back on course. "How is it that you are able to grant wishes? How did you make a human Inuyasha?"

The dream weaver smiled sweetly as she tried to peer behind the small fox demon. She licked her lips made a sound that was awfully close to a whine. "Oh, it would be so much easier to explain if the divine smell was not distracting me so. Perhaps if I had a bite or two I would be able to recall the story."

Shippo turned and used his body to shield the sweet treat. Inuyasha growled and snatched the box of pocky from the complaining fox kit and threw it at Kuusouka's head, who caught it deftly with surprising speed. Ripping open the box a little wider, she stuffed three sticks of pocky in her mouth and began munching loudly, making 'mmmmm' sounds of approval.

"Very delicious."

"Get on with the story, old hag."

"You chose this one?" The dream weaver asked Kagome again as she wiped the crumbs off her mouth. "On purpose?"

"He grows on you," the miko replied with a shrug.

"Like fungus," Shippo laughed. "OW! Kagome! Inuyasha hit me!"

Wondering if they would ever get to hear the answers to any questions, Kagome rolled her eyes and motioned for the older woman to continue with her story.

"Two days past I was traveling to a nearby village when I was attacked by a demon. Three demons! Yes. Three." She cleared her throat and continued on with her story, pointedly ignoring the squabbling of the fox kit and dog demon. "The first two demons were easily vanquished. However, I am getting on in years, and I was barely able to overcome the third demon. When the fourth demon attacked I was no longer able to defend myself adequately."

"I thought there were only three," whispered Shippo to the dog demon as he dislodged his teeth from Inuyasha's skull.

"Keh, there was probably only one," he replied irritably. "She probably coulda just bored it to death…"

Kuusouka glared at the interruption. "As I was saying, when the last demon attacked, I was no longer able to defend myself. Just as I had given up all hope, an arrow shot through the trees and hit the demon, killing him instantly. It was the priestess Kikyo. I offered to repay her kindness by granting her wish. She politely declined, but I could not let a good deed go unrewarded."

"You mean unpunished," whispered the dog demon to Kagome, who tried to smother her giggle. She meant to give him a reprimanding glare, but her eyes were twinkling in merriment, ruining the entire effect.

"But I know the wishes and dreams that lie in a person's, and even a demon's, heart." She sat a bit straighter with pride. "I knew what one of the wishes the priestess had made. She wished for the dog demon to be human, that he had never been a demon to begin with. She wished that she could have a normal life. She wished to be loved."

"You can grant that wish?" Sango asked curiously.

Kuusouka laughed. "Of course I could." She paused for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip. "In a fashion."

Miroku shifted position, a little closer to the slayer. "How did you grant such a wish?"

"I am the weaver of dreams."

"She's the weaver of something," whispered Inuyasha into Kagome's ear, making the hanyou Inuyasha even more irritable when she giggled for HIM.

Insulted by the remark, Kuusouka glared at the human male sitting next to the miko. "Have some respect for your creator." Her gaze moved from the human to the hanyou then back to the human. "And I did a magnificent job, did I not?"

Inuyasha's reply was not fit for young ears, and Kagome scolded the dog demon while she attempted to shield the kit's ears.

"Are you saying that I'm not real?"

Kagome covered Inuyasha's hand with her own to lend him her strength. It was promptly removed by a clawed hand and a gruff grunt. She wanted to smack him. Inuyasha, the human, was learning whether or not he was really real. His entire existence was being brought into question. Now was NOT the time for jealousy. So she took her friend's hand once more, glaring at the hanyou to promise him boatloads of pain if he tried to pry it off again. However, she moved slightly so that her knee was touching his. The connection seemed to calm him down. A little.

"Of course you are real!" Kuusouka cocked her head to one side and tapped her finger against her chin. "In a fashion."

"Can't you just spit it out?" snapped Inuyasha. "We've got jewel shards to find. We can't spend all day listening to you, you know."

"You can not rush the telling of a tale." After she spoke, Kuusouka grinned. "Did that not sound nice? Oh, what a lovely piece of advice. Someone should be writing this down. You there." She pointed to Miroku. "Write that down."

"I have nothing to write with, my lady. However, I will etch your words of wisdom in my soul so that they can never be forgotten."

"Bah, you'll forget. Never you mind, I will write it down myself."

The group watched at Kuusouka used her forefinger to carefully write the words into the air. The others looked at the dream weaver as if she were crazy, but Kagome could swear that she saw them shimmer for a moment before disappearing.

"I am a creature of magic. And I specialize in weaving dreams. If the dream is weaved with a strong enough thread, then it can, in fact, become the reality. At least in the mind of the dreamer."

"But I can think. And I can feel. If I was just a dream then I wouldn't be able to feel."

"You are a special dream," she winked at him. "I used some of my best work on you."

"How could you have weaved the dream though?" asked Kagome. "It was set in my... in my home town. There is no way you could no what it looks like. And there was school. And the movies. How could have have put THAT dream together?"

Kuusouka laughed. "I did not weave the whole dream. You would have known it was a dream had I done that. I simply weave the dream around what is floating around in your own memories. In a way, you and I created Inuyasha together. I made him the way you wanted him, and you fit him into your world. I did, however, have to take some people from your dreams. It would not do for something to trigger your memories and make you doubt the reality of your dream."

"My mother..." Kagome's eyes were wide with pain. "You made me forget my family!"

"They would have been a reminder of the other life." Kuusouka walked over and patted Kagome's hand. "I would have eventually weaved them back into the dream, once it was strong enough to support them. Once you were free of doubt."

The dream weaver walked back to her seat, content with her answer. Shippo hopped up onto Inuyasha's shoulder.

"How come you didn't just ask Kagome's mom if anything weird was going on?"

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open for a brief moment. He had been in such a panic to get Kagome that he never thought to talk to anyone in her family. The dog demon was spared having to answer the question when the human dream version of himself spoke.

"Do the others in... in Kagome's dream... Are they like me?"

"No. They are not like you. You are what was wished for, not the others. They are there because they are in Kagome's mind. They helped make the dream more real."

"How was he able to be here?" asked Kagome. "If he's in my head, a dream, then how can he be here in reality?"

"That, my child, is a very good question. When I wove this dream for you, I had no idea that you already possessed a magic of your own. Perhaps that is what enhanced the dream. I suspect that is why our Inuyasha is able to be with you for short periods of time, but only if you will it."

"You mean Kagome could have gotten rid of him any time?"

"Quit growling, Inuyasha," scolded the miko.

"I'm not growling."

"Yes you are."

"You could have gotten rid of him by just not THINKING ABOUT HIM!"

"Oh give me a break."

"If he ain't your dream then why are you thinking about him so much?"

"Why did the well close?" asked Miroku, once again trying to keep the conversation on track. "Inuyasha was unable to reach Kagome."

"What well?"

"Er..." Kagome wondered how to explain the well without explaining the well. It was best if as few of people as possible knew of her porthole to the future. To the past, she corrected. "What he meant, is that Inuyasha and I have a... well... a connection of sorts. It allows us to find each other no matter what. And while I was in the dream, he wasn't able to get through to me."

"Ah, I understand now. I suspect that the dream was becoming so real to you, that your connections to this world were close to being lost."

"WHAT!" Inuyasha sprang to his feet and reached for his sword, but only feeling that the scabbard was empty. "What do you mean her connection was close to being lost? What was happening to Kagome?" He stormed over to the woman and dragged her to her feet by the front of her clothing. "What did you do to Kagome?"

"Well now," the woman huffed, "This is the thanks I get for granting a young girl's wish?"

"It wasn't her wish," the hanyou growled.

"What did you do to Kagome?" asked Sango as she stood and reached for her own sword. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you mean 'lost'?"

"Put her down, Inuyasha," commanded the miko. "Si... Take a seat, Sango. Let her explain." She smiled warmly to the dream weaver as she was placed back on her own feet. "Please continue."

"What a rude demon. Are you certain that this is..."

"YES. He IS the one I chose. Keep talking."

"Harumph." Kuusouka dusted off her clothing and slowly took her seat once more. "Where were we?"

"You were telling us how you lost Kagome," explained Shippo.

Kuusouka laughed. "Oh dear child. Er... demon... er... demon child... Oh dear one, I did not lose Kagome. She was losing herself! The dream was becoming so real in her mind that it was becoming Kagome's reality. She would have no longer been a part of this world. In fact, this world would have been her dream."

"I'll kill you."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome put a restraining hand on her companion before turning her own irritated gaze back to the dream weaver. "How would I have no longer been a part of this world? Would I have been dead?"

With a grin, Kuusouka scratched her head. "No. Not dead. Just... asleep. An eternal slumber, so to speak."

Inuyasha pictures Kagome pinned to a tree with an arrow like he was and felt nauseas. Dreaming, but not really living.

"Kagome would have the perfect life that she has always dreamed of. And she will live as long as the world stands." Kuusouka told the group proudly.

"Stuck in high school… forever?" Kagome asked, horrified.

The woman laughs, "I am unsure what 'high school' is, but tells life would progress however you wish it. You can be any age you want. You can start her life all over again if you would like. No pain, no sorrow, no worries, no doubts. Perfect happiness forever. Does that not sound wonderful!"

"So Kagome has a choice, right?" asked the human Inuyasha hopefully. "She could choose to say in the dream world with me."

"Of course she could!" chirped Kuusouka. "Though it may take a bit of time for her mind to accept that the dream is the reality again. Perhaps I have something here for taking away memories... hmmm... that would certainly solve a lot of problems wouldn't it?" She dug through her bag. A sharp edge of a bloodied sword stopped her progress.

"You aren't taking away Kagome's memories," Inuyasha roared angrily.

Instinct caused him to reach for his sword. His hand trembled slightly as he caught the scent of Kagome's blood on his blade. His stomach turned. The sight and smell of it was making him sick. But he kept his grip, regardless of how badly he wished he could throw the blade away.

"I believe," said the dream weaver sternly, "That the decision is Kagome's alone to make. Though Kagome was not the person the gift was intended for, once given, it can not be taken away. Only accepted or rejected." She turned serious eyes, dark as night, to Kagome. "But you must decide on one or the other. A person will go mad if they do not choose and choose quickly. You can not live in both worlds."

"So the question is," pondered Miroku aloud, "What will Kagome do?"

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Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews! I enjoy reading them very much. They really make my day. Some of you guys are such a hoot! Kinda sad thinking that there are only a couple of chapters left to go, though.


	14. Saying Goodbye

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me. I also don't own the song "I Have Always Loved You" by Enrique Iglesias.

Chapter Fourteen: Saying Goodbye

"Kagome Higarushi, I love you." Inuyasha took her hands in his own, cradling them to his chest. "From the moment I met you I have been in love with you. I treasure every moment we have ever had together. With every breath in my body and every beat of my heart, I cherish and adore you. You will always be the most important person in my life. Aways. You are my life."

"He means that literally," snickered Shippo.

But the hanyou didn't laugh at the kit's joke. Watching the pathetic human boy spout out the mushy words that were making the women of the group get all watery eyed and sighing those annoying breathy sighs had a way of souring his stomach. Shippo sprang off his shoulder to find someone with a sense of humor.

Ignoring his audience, the dark haired young man continued. "I will devote my life to making you happy. Stay with me, I promise you will never regret it." His voice turned low and husky. "I need you. And I love you so much it hurts. I can't live without you."

Again Shippo snorted and whispered another smart comment. This time to Miroku, who did a poor job of disguising his amusement.

Kuusouka sighed dreamily as she listened to the impassioned speech, using her hand to fan her slightly flushed face. She then turned a critical eye to the dog demon with the barely leashed temper.

"Do you have any words for Kagome?" she asked.

"Keh."

"Very eloquent," commented Miroku. Sango and Shippo just shook their heads.

Inuyasha scowled at the dream weaver as she turned her attention back to her dream creation. Did Kagome have to look so… so… dreamy? Her eyes were a little glazed and she kept sighing! And what was with that smile? She wasn't supposed to smile at anyone like that! He crossed his arms and stood straight, glowering at anyone who dared to look in his direction.

Kuusouka had asked him if he had any words for her. What was he supposed to say? If he had been able to say the words, then he would have said them AGES ago! Words were hard for him, though. They never failed to get him into trouble. It wasn't like he had a whole lot of social skills, thanks to being an outcast all his life. Until Kagome. After all this time with her he still had difficulties with words. Luckily she didn't seem to need them. Did she? Surely Kagome wasn't stupid enough to fall for some stupid dream just because he had some pretty words for her. He wasn't even real, regardless of the things he said and how he looked.

"You have a choice, my child," said Kuusouka. "You can stay here in this world of demons, hardship, and uncertainty, or you may go with Inuyasha where you will live a life of happiness where you will always be loved and protected."

"Gee," grumbled Sango under her breath, "Think she's got a bias?"

Miroku grinned at her, though Inuyasha couldn't see what was so humorous. Didn't they know that dream creature was trying to take Kagome away? Not that she'd go. After all, she had promised him that she would stay by his side as long as he would let her. Just because some male starts spouting out all that gushy romantic nonsense didn't mean that she would abandon them. Kouga tells her stuff like that all the time and she wasn't off spitting out a bunch of scrawny wolf cubs for him. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for something like that. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for something that wasn't real.

So why wasn't she moving away from him? Why was he dragging her closer? Why wasn't she pulling away?

"_Since the beginning of time…"_

The enemy's voice was low and soft. Inuyasha's ear twitched in irritation at the tone he was using with Kagome. It was obvious that the words were for her ears alone.

"_Since it started to rain. Since I heard you laugh. Since I felt your pain."_

Inuyasha blinked in surprise.

"Is he singing to her?" he asked in amazement.

"Shush!" hissed Sango as she lifted her right hand to her chest, and shifted her weight so that she was almost touching the monk.

"But he's singing to her."

"For the love of the gods, Inuyasha," snarled Miroku as he struggled to keep his hands from straying and causing Sango to move away from him. "Just. Shut. Up!"

Inuyasha frowned at his friends. Sango was getting uncharacteristically girly over the whole thing, and Miroku was thinking too much about… well… probably about how he could use this to getting away with touching the slayer while she was caught up in the scene in front of them…without too much brain damage. Didn't any of them realize the danger? What was wrong with them?

"_I have always loved you! There's never been anyone else. I knew you before I knew myself…"_

Shippo landed on Inuyasha's shoulder since Miroku wasn't paying him any attention anymore. The kit was frowning as well as the dark haired young man continued to sing to his surrogate mother.

"_Oh my baby, I have always loved you."_

Shippo tugged on a lock of silver hair to get the dog demon's attention. "She won't go with him just because he's singing to her, will she?" he asked Inuyasha nervously.

"No."

It wouldn't happen. No matter how many stupid songs this idiot sang, there was no way that Kagome would leave him. But why wasn't she moving away? Was she under some sort of spell? Inuyasha would have asked the monk, but he was too busy trying to inch himself closer to Sango. Kaede wasn't there to ask. And Kuusouka was just plain useless. She was the cause of this whole mess anyhow. All because she was too stupid to tell the difference between Kagome and Kikyo. What an idiot! Besides, it was pretty obvious who SHE wanted Kagome to go with.

"DO something, Inuyasah!"

The dog demon nodded. Enough was enough. The dream creature was manipulating Kagome. Her soft heart wouldn't let her be cruel. HE, however, had no problem with that. In fact, he rather took great enjoyment from getting rid of her potential suitors. Cracking his knuckles he stepped forwards, determined to snap off the hands that her STILL holding Kagome's.

Unfortunatley, after two steps forward he was knocked back by a very powerful barrier.

"No no, demon," admonished the dream weaver with a chuckle as she wagged her finger at him. "You must let the girl make her own choice. You can not force it upon her."

Inuyasha growled. "I ain't FORCING Kagome to do ANYTHING!"

"Not yet, demon, but you will soon try. What good would that do? Would you be content knowing that she did not make the choice on her own?" the woman asked. "Would you not always be wondering if she would have chosen you on her own? Would you wonder if she would always harbor resentment towards you for taking away her dreams? Would you still be content with that?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Yeah."

"Me too," agreed Shippo with a similar shrug. "I'd be okay with that." Kuusouka sputtered in outrage.

"Oi!" called Inuyasha, "Kagome! Get over here!"

The barrier made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't like being kept away from Kagome. It just felt wrong. He couldn't protect her if he couldn't get to her. But to his surprise, Kagome didn't even look at him. She continued swaying back and forth with the dream boy as he was singing. It was unnerving.

He knew it. She really was under a spell!

"How DARE you put a spell on her!"

Indignately, Kuusouka sniffed. "It is a harmless spell, demon."

"Take it off her!"

"No."

"NOW!"

Sango pulled herself away from the sound of the singing. When the hanyou's yelling escalated Miroku also began paying attention.

"What's going on?"

Shippo answered Sango's question since Inuyasha was too busy pulling out his sword. "Kuusouka put a spell on Kagome."

"What kind of spell?" asked Miroku.

"What kind of spell?" Shippo asked the dream weaver.

Kuusouka giggled girlishly, causing Inuyasha to wonder if the woman was as old as she seemed to appear. "Do not worry yourself, little one. It is not a spell that would harm the girl. It is simply one to where she only hears and sees our dream Inuyasha. It is quite similar to the dreams she experienced before, yet now she is awake." For a moment she basked in pride at her accomplishment. Then she frowned at the dog demon who was attempting to break the barrier. "It seemed only fair to give him an opportunity to talk to her without interference."

"Take the spell off her."

"No, Inuyasha. Just let them talk. You had your chance to talk. Do you not remember? I believe that 'Keh' is the word you used to coax the young lady to stay with you."

Inuyasha was fuming. Even breaking the barrier didn't cause a flicker of reaction in Kagome's eyes. Raising his sword he was determined to lop Kuusouka's head off her body if she didn't take off the spell. The way he was feeling right now, there was a good chance he just might do that anyhow.

"I said, take it off."

For a moment it looked like the dream weaver was going to be stubborn. But perhaps she saw something in those fierce golden eyes that warned her that it wouldn't be in her best interest. So she grudgingly mumbled a few words to free the girl.

"You are a rude demon," she complained.

Inuyasha watched as Kagome shook her head to free herself from the last of the spell. She looked back at him with sad eyes. She took the other Inuyasha's hand. Blood roared in Inuyasha's ears as she said something incoherent and began walking away. Walking way from him. With someone else.

"K…Kagome…?"

This wasn't supposed to happen.

This couldn't be happening.

He could tell that the others were staring at him, but he couldn't look at them. He couldn't move a muscle. It was as if his entire body was frozen, a very similar feeling to the one of being pinned to a tree by an arrow through the chest. Though an arrow through the heart didn't hurt half as much as watching Kagome walk away.

_I should have said something,_ he mourned. _I should have told her that I love her. I should have told her that my life means nothing without her. I should have told her that she WAS my life! Gods… what will I do without her? I can't… I…_

_No_, Inuyasha told himself harshly. _She's coming right back. She's coming right back. Any second now she'll be back_

Kuusouka followed the couple to go spy on them. Miroku and Sango slipped off soon after, Kirara and Shippo trailing behind. Inuyasha would have gone too if the life hadn't just been sucked out of his body. Without an audience now, Inuyasha slumped to the ground, letting his head drop to his knees. It was quite possible that he was going to be sick. Could someone die of heartbreak?

Somehow, Kagome had become his whole life. She was his reason for living, for fighting, for just being. How was he going to be able to go on without her? He couldn't even imagine.

His human heart felt as if it was dying, but his demon blood was raging at him to go retrieve Kagome. After shredding the human boy, of course. There had to be a way to get rid of him. Until he figured out a way to destroy him, then he would just have to take Kagome and hide her away for a little while, just until they came up with a good plan. He would hide her in a cave or something. Lots of people made homes in caves. Well… demons for sure. It would be fun. She'd like it. Eventually. Surely there was a way he could go far enough that Kuusouka and her dreams would not find her.

Kuusouka.

If he killed the dream weaver… would the dream boy die? It was certainly an option.

He would get over the fact that she didn't choose him. Some day. Maybe. But at least he would still be with her. Inuyasha sighed. But if that was what she really wanted… She would be happy. She would never be in danger.

She would be asleep forever.

Was that life? Could she be happy knowing that she was only dreaming? Or would she soon forget that it wasn't real? And that HE would become some dream. Some long forgotten dream. No, he couldn't let that happen. He would protect her, even if it was from her own dreams. Whether she liked it or not. He couldn't let her live some sort of half life, not if he could prevent it.

Okay, so the plan was, go get Kagome and stash her somewhere. Plan two was to hack up the dream weaver. Inuyasha nodded. Both plans seemed to be flawless. Pulling himself back up to his feet he prepared to go get his miko. Before he could go, however, he saw Sango and Miroku coming back.

Tears streaked down Sango's face.

Inuyasha's heart stopped.

No.

No.

Gods, no.

Please…

Kagome was supposed to be his. Once the jewel was completed… once she finished the school thing that she thought was so important… once Kikyo's soul was at rest… then they would… then they would become mates. Real mates. And have pups. And a home. And they would always be together. She wasn't supposed to destroy their lives just so she could have some DREAM!

She made this choice to leave without hearing that he loved her, without letting him try to convince her that he needed her more. Loved her more. _She can't make the right decision without knowing all the facts! _

"I couldn't bear to watch anymore," confessed Sango quietly to the monk.

"Do not worry," Miroku consoled. "Shippo is still there. He will tell us if we miss anything good."

_Miss anything good? Just what were they expecting to happen?_ Unable to stand it anymore, Inuyasha drew his sword once more, prepared to kill anything in his way from getting to Kagome. That included the monk with the obvious death wish who just stepped in front of him to block his path.

"Let her be."

Inuyasha roared in pain. Let her be? NO! He might as well just cut out his heart if he was just going to 'let her be'. The dog demon crouched to leap over the monk (killing would be a last resort, but definetly not out of the question). However, once in the crouch position his muscles locked and he was not able to spring upwards. Or do anything else for that matter.

"YOU PUT A SUTRA ON ME?"

"Just to keep you from making a big mistake." Calmly the monk sat beside the snarling hanyou, completely unaffected by the graphic threats of death and dismemberment.

"I'm going to kill you."

Miroku gave him a patient smile. "We followed Kagome and the other Inuyasha down the path. Up ahead and to the left there is a lovely stream with a small waterfall nearby. It is very romantic." Miroku turned his head to smile at Sango. "Perhaps later we will stop by."

"Perhaps you'll be DEAD later!" snapped Inuyasha.

"Kagome and Inuyasha, the other one of course, stopped by the water. Once more the young man declared his undying love for her. It was quite touching. Then Kagome wrapped her arms around him and she began telling him how much he means to her." Miroku paused for a moment. "Then she began crying." He gave a soft laugh, "Then Sango began crying. And now here we all are."

"Get. The. Sutra. Off. Me."

The monk reached for the sutra, then paused before his fingers touched it. "Do not do anything foolish, Inuyasha." Then he peeled it off.

Instead of killing Miroku, which he had been contemplating, Inuyasha bolted towards the path Kagome took. There was no need for stealth since he wasn't trying to sneak up on them like SOME people. In fact, he wanted them to know that he was coming for them. He had every intention of declaring war on those who would try to take Kagome away from him.

It didn't take long to find her. Miroku was just wasting breath when giving the hanyou directions. When it came to finding Kagome, there was nothing better than his nose.

Inuyasha skidded to a stop when he saw them. Even though Miroku had told him that she had hugged him, actually seeing her in another man's embrace caused him to stagger. It hurt so much it nearly knocked him to his knees. The scene was so sweet and so tender that he wanted to do nothing more than start ripping people apart. A small part of him felt that he should let her have her happiness, since it seemed that he seemed to either make Kagome mad or sad most of the time. A small sad voice whispered to him to let her go.

The voice was immediately squashed.

The dog demon knew that he was a better match for the miko than any weak human. He just needed to make sure that SHE knew it too. So he straightened his spine and tightened sheathed his sword. For the first time he was going to have to win a fight with words, and not his claws or sword.

Just as he was about to storm over there, he heard something that stopped him in his tracks. Her head had moved to the side, glancing in his direction as she laid her head on the other man's chest.

He heard her whisper.

"Good-bye, Inuyasha."

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Author's Notes: Thank you for your reviews. C'ya next time… for the last chapter of Hopes and Dreams.


	15. In The End

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Fifteen: In the End

"Goodbye, Inuyasha."

As the words left her mouth, Kagome was engulfed in a bright white light. Her hair began to flutter and float around her shoulders. She stole his breath away. Then she turned her head to give Inuyasha a sad smile as she took one step back.

"NO!"

Instinctively, Inuyasha dashed forward towards Kagome as the light began to swallow her. Somehow it was going to try to take her away from him, to steal her from him. He wasn't going to let her go. Not now. NOT EVER. With one powerful leap he stretched his body and reached for her, his shoulder ramming into her stomach as he tackled her. Twisting his body so that it cushioned the blow, they landed on the hard ground with an "Ooof!"

For a moment the miko was breathless and still as she lay on top of the hanyou, his arms wrapped around her protectively. The light grew brighter. Kagome glanced over at it briefly before turning her attention to the young man underneath her. She began to squirm so she could sit up.

"Inuya…"

"No, Kagome." Inuyasha sat up without relinquishing his hold on her. Pulling Kagome onto his lap he wrapped one arm around her waist to pin her body against his. The other arm ran up her back and gently pulled her head to his shoulder and held it there. "No, you can't leave me."

"What? Inu…"

"Don't be stupid, wench," he growled, moving so that his chin rested on top of her head. "You can't leave me, stupid girl. I didn't get a chance to tell you…" The light still glowed, still beckoned his miko even as it faded. He cringed from the light and held her tighter so that she wouldn't have an opportunity to make a run for it. "Look, I'll become human for you when we get the jewel."

"WHAT?" She looked startled, and rather insultingly horrified. He had to convince her that he would be what she wanted. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her… not when there was something within his power to keep it from happening. "No, Inuyash…"

"I said I'd do it." He ground his teeth. "I'll do it for you."

"No… you don…"

"Don't you get it?" He growled and gave her a little shake. "I LOVE YOU, you IDIOT!"

Gasping, Kagome tried to respond, but only came up with a strangled squeak. Inuyasha cringed. That wasn't how he wanted to say it. He was hoping that he might have come up with something devastatingly romantic that would make her sigh, like the dream version of himself. But he was in a bit of a time crunch and ended up just blurting it out. Frantically he searched his brain for the right thing to say to fix this. Unable to think of anything sigh worthy, he just forged ahead.

"Don't go... I'll become human and I'll even go to that stupid school with you. WE can be together like you wanted. I'll find a way. Just…just don't leave me."

"Inuya…"

"Please!"

Kagome pulled back gently, this time he let her. Unable to face the rejection and pain that was to come, he looked away. He was ashamed to be begging like the dog they sometimes joked that he was. But what use was pride if it meant losing Kagome? He felt Kagome reach forward and take a lock of his hair, tugging on it until he turned his face back to hers. Her eyes were soft and teary.

"No, Inuyasha. You can't wish that. I wouldn't change anything about you. You know that." She smiled at him. "I love you exactly the way that you are."

Inuyasha looked away again.

"Then why did you choose HIM?"

If she hadn't still been sitting on his lap, Inuyasha would have sworn that she wasn't there at all. She didn't make a sound or move a single muscle. Then suddenly, she wasn't sitting on his lap anymore. She was standing above him, frowning with her hands on her hips.

"Why did I choose him?"

This really wasn't a conversation that Inuyasha wanted to have. The plan to just grab Kagome and run was slowly crumbling. How could he have forgotten that she wouldn't be going quietly? But a fight was a good thing. He could deal with anger, it was much better than all those other emotions that made him feel so weak. They would fight and then she'd go home for a bit, then they'd make up. It's the way things went. Unless… unless this time when she went away… she'd be leaving with her dream man. Maybe fighting wasn't the best solution after all…

"Why, Kagome?" he asked softly as he stood.

She cocked her head to one side and looked at him as if he was crazy. "What in the world makes you think I chose him?"

Inuyasha paused for a moment, wallowing in despair for a moment before he was able to work up a little anger. "You were hugging him," he accused. "He sang to you and you were hugging him. And the light. And he said those things that you sighed over. You were hugging him." His voice began to break. "You told me goodbye."

Kagome scratched her head for a moment. "I hugged him because I was telling him goodbye." She turned so that she was facing the spot where her friend had stood only moments ago. "Yes, he sang to me. Yes, he said the prettiest things to me. But, he knew he was a dream, that it wasn't real. I told him that I couldn't live being stuck in a dream, that I wouldn't really be alive. No matter how perfect of a life I could have dreamed up, it still wouldn't have really been a life. And I told him that I couldn't leave you." She brushed away a tear that trickled down her cheek. "So we said goodbye."

"Oh."

Kagome laughed as she scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Oh? That's all you've got to say? OH?"

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place, wench?" he growled.

"I told you guys that I would be right back. If I wasn't coming back why would I say that I was, dummy?"

"You did NOT!"

"YES I DID!"

"YOU DID NOT!"

"**I DID TOO!"**

"_**YOU DID NOT!"**_

"Um…" squeaked Shippo, "Actually, she did." Sango, Miroku, and Kirara nodded in agreement.

Miroku smiled. "She did say that she would be back in a few moments."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER?" demanded the angry hanyou.

The monk shrugged. "I thought you heard."

"You were standing right there with us," Sango said.

"Maybe he was too busy growling…" suggested Shippo.

"There's a whole box of chocolate pocky in my backpack," Kagome told the fox kit as she smiled warmly at her friends. "And I bet Sango and Miroku would love some of the potato chips I brought. There is plenty of time for a snack before dinner."

"I hate them all," Inuyasha grumbled as he turned his back on his retreating friends. "Every one of them."

"No you don't."

"Feh."

Inuyasha looked around the clearing. No one was there, not even the dream weaver. He sniffed the air. The only scent he could distinguish was Kagome's. He stomped away from her so that it wouldn't feel so overpowering and he would be able to sense if anyone else was around. Once he was certain that they were alone, he turned back to the curiously quiet miko.

His eyes softened as he saw her standing there looking at him with amusement twinkling in her eyes. She was here. She didn't leave him. She was offered everything she could possibly want, and she turned it down… to stay with him. Sure it was just a dream, but after awhile she wouldn't have known that it was a dream.

"You really would have turned human for me?"

Inuyasha blushed and turned his head. "You said I didn't have to."

He felt her walk up beside him and took a deep breath, breathing in her scent. Bathing in the knowledge that she was here with him. When her fingers reached for his, he closed his eyes to savor the feel. It was soft and warm. And… a little sweaty… He opened his eyes and smirked when she took her hand back and tried to covertly wipe her palms against her skirt.

She was nervous.

"Of course you don't have to. I…" she cleared her throat and wiped her hands again before slipping her hand in his once more. This time, however, she stood in front of him and grabbed his other hand as well. With a determined smile she continued. "I love you the way that you are."

His heart started beating so fast that it was surprising that it didn't just beat right out of his chest. She was looking up at him, letting him see the love that she felt. His own palms began sweating. When he bent his head down, Kagome's eyes lowered about halfway as her chin tiled up slightly. A trembling hand reached for her face and cupped her cheek. Her eyes fluttered back open and she smiled at him, leaning closer. Her eyes looked… dreamy…

Inuyasha dropped his hand and stepped back.

"You're thinking about HIM! Aren't you?" He pointed an accusing clawed finger at her.

After a moment of silence, Kagome began to laugh. It wasn't the reaction he expected, but it still ticked him off. She laughed so hard she got a stitch in her side and doubled over. It really wasn't improving his mood.

"What's so funny?"

She laughed some more, but eventually was able to spit out some words between snickers. "You…" Laugh. "You think I…" Snicker. "I thought you thought of her…" Guffaw. "Talk about irony!"

"You aren't making any sense. You know that, right?"

Wiping away tears, Kagome finally got herself under control. Though she couldn't stop that one last giggle when she saw the irate look on her dog demon's face. "It's just that a long time ago I thought that you were thinking of Kikyo when I thought you were going to… well… kiss me."

Inuyasha blushed at the memory. "You shoved me off the tree trunk."

"I thought you were thinking of her."

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

Grabbing the fabric of his fire rat robe, Kagome stood on her toes and leaned in towards Inuyasha. The hanyou held her hands in his own and looked down at her quizzically.

"You sure you aren't thinking of him?"

Kagome sighed and lowered herself back to standing flat. For a moment she leaned her forehead against his chest. Then she slid her right leg around his leg, causing Inuyasha to tense all his muscles and freeze. Then she hooked her ankle around his, causing his brain to short circuit. And she shoved.

"SIT!"

This time, he landed flat on his back instead of his stomach, thanks to the well timed tripping. Inuyasha was going to yell at her, but found her suddenly sitting on his stomach and couldn't remember what he was going to say. In fact, he couldn't think of anything at all. Straddling him with one leg on each side of his body she grabbed two locks of hair and leaned over until she was nearly nose to nose with him. He couldn't breathe. Even if she wasn't sitting on most of his internal organs he wouldn't have been able to breathe.

"Listen up," she growled. "I. Love. You. Only you. I love you and wouldn't trade you or change you or wish you anything other than what you are. I've loved you almost since I unpinned you from that stupid tree. YOU are everything I've ever hoped and dreamed for, Inuyasha. You. Fuzzy ears, bad temper, and all."

Inuyasha didn't try to free himself from her grasp. She loved him. She really honestly loved him. She told him that she loved him. She… she's looked rather expectant… He almost laughed when he realized he forgot to reply. He reached up and touched a lock of her hair, letting it curl around his finger.

"I love everything about you, too."

"Oh." She paused, her fingers loosening their death grip on his hair. "That's… um… you do?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…"

Smirking, Inuyasha leaned up a little, until his lips were only a fraction of an inch away from hers. "So are you gonna kiss me or what, wench?"

"Don't be a jer…"

The rest of the insult was lost as she leaned that fraction of an inch closer.

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"I don't think I can live without her," Inuyasha confessed as he turned away from the sight of Kagome pinning the hanyou on the ground. He was glad that they were invisible to them.

Kuusouka smiled sadly. "You were not made for her."

"I know." He looked back for one last glimpse of Kagome before walking down the path. "You know, I expected it to hurt more. But it doesn't. I'm happy that Kagome is happy. Though I kind of thought I'd be off nursing a broken heart right about now. Weird, huh?"

Kuusouka smiled again, this time it was much more cheerful. "That is because your tie to Kagome has been severed."

"Severed?"

"Yes. When she chose the hanyou, the tie to your dream was cut. You no longer were compelled to be that Inuyasha. No longer compelled to love her." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "However… you should have disappeared. You should not exist now." She shrugged. "Perhaps Kagome gave you a bit of her own magic."

"Maybe." He chewed on his lip. "Does that mean I'm really real?"

The dream weaver shrugged. "Maybe." Then she smiled at him. "You were the best dream I ever created. Part of me is very glad that you did not simply disappear. Tell me, what will you do now that you are free?"

"I don't know." He turned and grinned at Kuusouka, then took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. "Want to go find Kikyo?"

"I do not know if she dreams. But then… you are more than a dream now. Perhaps things will be different with the woman you were created for. There is only one way to find out."

Inuyasha closed his eyes. He hoped that Kagome would be happy. It was very strange to not have every thought focused on Kagome. Even though he no longer felt that desperate love for her, he was still very fond of the girl. Maybe he would find a way to check up on her in her dreams. But for now he had a future to look forward to. A life, of sorts, to get on with.

"Do you suppose a man who isn't real could have a relationship with a woman who isn't really alive?"

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"They've been at it for almost an hour!" whined Shippo as he stretched, tired from crouching down in their hiding spot. "Kissing can't be all that great."

Miroku smiled at Sango in a way that made the slayer blush scarlet. "Yes it can."

"But I'm hungry. Isn't Inuyasha EVER going to let Kagome go?"

"No, Shippo. I do not think that he ever will."

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Author's Note:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate the reviews and all your thoughts and suggestions. I hope you enjoyed it. It's kind of sad to see it end, but alas, that's the way it goes. I have lots of other stories to tell, so maybe I'll see some of y'all later!

(Look, no cliffhanger… See, I'm not totally evil…)


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